Rep. Rashida Tlaib is staying silent as a top consultant who worked on the Michigan Democrat's 2018 campaign stands accused of harassing five former employees, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
T.J. Bucholz, a Michigan Democratic strategist and the owner of political communications firm Vanguard Public Affairs, has admitted to misconduct on at least one occasion. He conceded texting a 22-year-old female staffer in 2016 to say "you're so f—ing hot. Marry me," according to the Detroit Free Press.
Bucholtz reportedly texted the same employee a year later to comment on a photo of her. "You certainly look … um … healthy," he wrote.
Another young female staffer said Bucholz threatened to photoshop an image of her in a "sexually compromised position" if she left the firm.
A Democratic activist has also accused Bucholz of proposing a threesome in 2010.
Bucholz was hospitalized on Thursday, a development that generated unsubstantiated reports as to the cause. A Detroit Free Press reporter tweeted Friday, however, that Bucholz' attorney called press reports of a suicide attempt "patently false."
In September, Tlaib introduced a resolution calling on the government "to adopt policies that promote women's political participation, and help mitigate violence against women in politics."
"We so often hear the future is female — and I introduce this resolution as a means of securing it," Tlaib said in a press release. "Our future is so much brighter if we can build a world in which women and nonbinary individuals are free to fight for their communities and serve in government without fear of violence and abuse."
Tlaib has not addressed the accusations against Bucholz.
Bucholz's alleged behavior occurred before he worked on Tlaib's 2018 congressional campaign.
A member of the progressive "Squad" led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D., N.Y., Tlaib paid Bucholz's firm more than $21,000 in 2018 and nearly $5,300 in 2019.
After winning her 2018 race, Tlaib tweeted Bucholz to say she "couldn't have done it without" him.
Bucholz then led a 2019 Tlaib campaign fundraising effort, selling "Impeach the MF" shirts in a reference to the congresswoman's profane outburst against former President Donald Trump.
Bucholz's firm also has ties to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., whose 2018 campaign communications team was led by former Vanguard Vice President Jen Eyer, who took a leave of absence to perform the duties.
Eyer resigned from the firm Wednesday after some of Bucholz's alleged victims accused her of disregarding their accusations. Eyer called the claims "categorically untrue."
Other top Vanguard clients include Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., who has paid Bucholz's firm nearly $50,000 since 2018. That year, Lewis pledged to "make sure men accused of violating women cannot reach — or remain — in the highest seats of power in the land."
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