Mike Johnson Unwilling To Condemn Cory Mills Despite Citing Daughters As Reason ‘we Have To Protect Women’

House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to condemn a personnel of Congress nether investigation for intersexual misconduct and making love violence contempt citing his daughters moving connected Capitol Hill arsenic nan logic for nan request to protect women staffers.

Johnson was asked by The Independent astir female staffers emotion it basal to spell to nan media to item stories of intersexual misconduct by lawmakers, alternatively than study done nan general protocol.

“You whitethorn cognize this, I person 2 daughters who activity connected Capitol Hill, connected committee staffs,” he said. “I'm a father. I'm not conscionable nan Speaker of nan House. I'm a personnel who is directly, you know, progressive successful this. For that very reason, we person to protect women and anyone who feels for illustration there's immoderate inappropriate behaviour whatsoever.”

But Johnson truthful acold has refused to condemn Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.). In October, a authorities judge deed Mills pinch a restraining bid aft his ex-girlfriend claimed that he had threatened to release nude images and blackmail her. Mills has disputed nan claims.

In November, nan House Ethics Committee announced it had opened an investigation into nan two-term Florida congressman for a litany of allegations, including whether he “engaged successful misconduct pinch respect to allegations of intersexual misconduct and/or making love violence.”

The questions astir Mills travel following nan resignation of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and nan subsequent resignation of Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).

Swalwell ended his run for politician and his legislature profession aft aggregate media reports detailing inappropriate intersexual behaviour pinch staffers, including a erstwhile staffer saying he sexually assaulted her connected 2 abstracted occasions.

It besides triggered Gonzales’s resignation. He had antecedently travel earlier nan House Ethics Committee complete allegations he had engaged successful an extramarital matter pinch a erstwhile staffer who later killed herself.

Before that, plentifulness of Democrats and a fistful of Republicans had called for some men to beryllium expelled.

The unit only grew connected Tuesday erstwhile Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigned after a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that she stole $5 cardinal successful FEMA money meant for Covid-19 vaccinations. The Florida congresswoman maintained her innocence contempt nan resignation.

Republicans and Democrats had expressed openness to removing Cherfilus-McCormick successful speech for Mills.

But Johnson defended nan process of nan Ethics Committee to reporters.

“There's ever been marital infidelity, there's ever been bad behavior,” he said. “And truthful what that intends is nan House Ethics Committee is an basal constituent of this institution. They support nan religion successful nan institution by policing their ain members.”

But galore Democrats expressed dissatisfaction that they are consenting to constabulary their own, while Republicans truthful acold person been unwilling to do nan same.

“If you could beryllium nan statement of family values, you should worth family and not condone unit successful a location against personification surviving there,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), nan chairwoman of nan Democratic Women’s Caucus, told The Independent.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), a rape survivor, revenge a solution to expel Mills from nan House of Representatives.

But nan move has quickly go a tit-for-tat and Mills each but dared Mace to do so.

“Why won’t you telephone your solution you revenge to nan level for a vote?” Mills said connected societal media. “Is it because you didn’t deliberation you would get called out?”