Revealed: Staggering amount secretly paid out to settle House sex harassment claim s
The federal government quietly paid out more than $338,000 to settle sexual harassment allegations against House members and their offices since 2004 — nearly double what lawmakers were told during the last period of intense scrutiny in 2017, according to a new report based on data released Monday by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).
Mace, a member of the House Oversight Committee, released a list of nine payments made before Congress banned taxpayer-funded harassment settlements in 2018. The offices implicated include former Reps. Eric Massa (D-NY), John Conyers (D-MI), Blake Farenthold (R-TX) and Patrick Meehan (R-PA) — all previously linked to misconduct — as well as two new revelations involving the late Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and former Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA).
The new data reveals previously unknown payments. Massa, who resigned in 2010 amid an Ethics Committee probe, had been publicly linked to an $85,000 settlement, but Mace's list includes an additional $30,000. Conyers, who died in 2019, had been associated with a $27,000 payment, but a separate $50,000 settlement from 2010 is now revealed for the first time.
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights confirmed that 30 of the settlements involved members who either committed the misconduct themselves or knew about it.
"Accountability is not a threat," Mace said. "It is a promise."
The revelations come as Congress faces renewed scrutiny over how it handles sexual misconduct allegations, following the recent resignations of two lawmakers over inappropriate behavior with staff — and amid an ongoing ethics probe into Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) over separate sexual harassment accusations.
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