More than $338,000 has been paid in sexual harassment settlements over the last 20 years on behalf of members of the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Politico.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the information detailing the government payouts after a March committee vote, seeking a full accounting of payouts made before the settlements ended in 2018, Mace and a source familiar with the investigation said.
Offices that paid settlements include those of former Reps. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., John Conyers, D-Mich., Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Patrick Meehan, R-Pa.
Mace also uncovered an $8,000 settlement from the office of former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and a $15,000 payment from the office of former Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La.
Alexander told Politico the complaint concerned a former staffer who was later fired. A former McCarthy aide did not respond to a request for comment. McCarthy died last year.
Mace said her goal is to release the records provided under subpoena, once we confirm that personally identifiable information of victims and witnesses has been properly redacted.
"Accountability is not a threat," Mace said. "It is a promise."
The payment amount is double what was disclosed to lawmakers in 2017, Politico said.
Former Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, recently resigned from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Between 1996 and 2018, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights said it approved 80 awards or settlements for complaints against House or Senate members' offices, Politico reported, citing a letter sent to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky.
A total of 349 complaints were made against legislative branch offices.
In 2018, a bill was passed that banned the federal government from paying for lawmakers' settlements for sexual harassment claims.
No such payment has been made since 2017.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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