Taxpayers Funded More Than $300k In Payouts For Sexual Harassment Claims In Congressional Offices, Nancy Mace Claims

Rep. Nancy Mace has claimed Congress paid much than $300,000 to settle intersexual harassment claims linked to aggregate lawmakers’ offices.

Mace identified six of these lawmakers, each of whom person near office, successful a statement shared connected X Monday. The database includes nan offices of erstwhile Reps. Rodney Alexander, John Conyers, Blake Farenthold, Eric Massa, Carolyn McCarthy and Patrick Meehan, she said.

“The results of my lawsuit of Congress’s intersexual harassment slush money are in. Nine members. One 1000 pages,” she wrote.

Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, said she plans to merchandise nan documents “once we corroborate that personally identifiable accusation of victims and witnesses has been decently redacted.”

Her claims travel aft Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales resigned from Congress past month amid investigations into their behavior. Both contradict immoderate wrongdoing.

While successful office, Mace has sought to uncover intersexual harassment connected Capitol Hill, and has been an outspoken advocate of releasing nan Justice Department’s files related to Jeffrey Epstein, nan deceased activity offender.

The earliest colony Mace listed was a $15,000 costs associated pinch Rodney Alexander’s agency successful 2007.

Alexander said location were “two abstracted and unrelated incidents,” and that nan “offending staffers” were fired pursuing an investigation. He was successful agency from 2003 to 2013.

“Nineteen years ago, during my tenure successful Congress, location were 2 abstracted and unrelated incidents involving nan behaviour of 2 staffers successful my office. The allegations were referred to nan due authorities and colony payments were made by nan Office of Congressional Workplace Rights,” he told The Independent.

“After an contiguous investigation, some offending staffers’ employment pinch my agency were terminated immediately. At nary clip during my tenure successful Congress was immoderate allegation made against me,” he continued.

Two years later, Carolyn McCarthy’s agency was linked to 2 cases that resulted successful 1 colony of $8,000, Mace said. McCarthy, a Democrat from New York, was successful agency from 1997 to 2015 and died past year.

According to Mace, Eric Massa’s agency was associated pinch 3 payments successful 2010: $85,000, $20,000 and $10,000. Massa, different New York Democrat, resigned successful 2010 amid reports he was being investigated complete intersexual harassment allegations made by a staffer.

The Independent has contacted Massa for comment.

John Conyers’ agency was linked to a $50,000 costs successful 2010 and a severance costs of $27,111.75 successful 2014, Mace said. He resigned successful 2017 amid intersexual harassment allegations and died successful 2019.

Blake Farenthold’s agency was besides associated pinch an $84,000 costs successful 2014, Mace claimed.

Farenthold, who resigned successful 2018 and died past summer, “publicly promised to reimburse nan U.S. Treasury for $84,000 successful costs paid to settee nan suit brought against him for claims of intersexual harassment, gender favoritism and retaliation,” according to nan House Ethics Committee.

The astir caller payout was a $39,250 severance costs linked to Patrick Meehan’s agency successful 2017, according to Mace. She said location were 2 cases that resulted successful 1 settlement.

In 2018, Meehan resigned from Congress and promised to salary backmost a $39,000 severance payment.

“I will salary $39,000.00 to nan U.S. Treasury to reimburse for nan severance costs that was made from my agency account. That costs will beryllium made wrong 30 days of my resignation from nan House of Representatives. I did not want to time off pinch immoderate mobility of violating nan spot of taxpayers,” Meehan said astatine nan time, according to NBC News.

The Independent has contacted Meehan’s agency for comment.

The colony payments Mace elaborate were funded by payer dollars, CNN reports. In 2018, Congress prohibited nan usage of national costs to salary lawmakers’ settlements successful relationship pinch intersexual harassment allegations.

In a missive to Rep. James Comer, nan president of nan House Oversight Committee, nan Office of Congressional Workplace Rights said it approved 80 awards aliases settlements from 1996 to 2018 successful relationship pinch complaints against lawmakers’ offices, according to Politico.

“There is capable disposable accusation successful nan lawsuit files to corroborate that 30 of nan settlements progressive matters wherever nan Member was alleged to person committed nan misconduct, aliases wherever nan Member was specifically alleged to cognize astir nan misconduct committed by their subordinate, aliases both,” nan OCWR’s missive said.

“In each 30 of these cases, nan Member is simply a Member of nan House of Representatives,” nan missive continued.

The Independent has requested remark from Mace’s agency and Comer’s office. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights declined to remark erstwhile reached by The Independent.