I think the Republicans are slow-walking the release of names because they do not want the resulting turmoil and potential resignations to affect critical votes, e.g. the tax cut bill.
If I’m right, it could happen soon after todays votes.
Congress has paid more than $700,000 in settlements in the last decade
http://therightscoop.com/congress-has-paid-more-than-700000-in-settlements-in-the-last-decade/
I thought that my distrust for politicians could not go any lower-——and then I heard about this.
Term limits !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I want names!
I want to know which elected official received taxpayer largess as a result of their inability to control themselves. These people who are incapable of controlling themselves are writing laws and rules that control others. They need to be run out of town, but my guess is that some district would reelect them under any circumstance.
REFERENCE-—when NBC News directed questions about the Alcee Hastings $200,000 harassment settlement and payments to two congressional entities the documents showed were involved in establishing and approving them — the Office of Compliance and the Senate Office of the Chief Counsel for Employment — neither provided answers.
In an email, the Office of Compliance’s media representative wrote that “the Congressional Accountability Act requires that the OOC maintain the confidentially of contacts made with the office. The OOC cannot comment on whether matters have or have not been filed with the office.”
The Senate legal office did not respond to questions — including why it reached a settlement in this case even though Hastings is a member of the House.
The Process
In the “lessons” memo, the counsel representing Hastings’ side, she argued that “the manner in which the case was resolved was not ideal, and, going forward, we strongly recommend that the commission consider adopting regulations or policies to avoid this type of situation.”
According to the “lessons” memo, Packer contacted the Senate Chief Counsel for Employment’s office and “indicated her interest in settling the case.” A draft confidentiality agreement between Packer and the commission, obtained by NBC News, forced Packer to resign in order to accept the settlement. She also had to agree to never seek employment with the commission again.
The agreement was also made with the commission, not Hastings, and required commission employees to attend a sexual harassment training session. Hastings was not required to attend. According to the settlement, the commission’s harassment politics also had to be redrafted and distributed them at the seminar.
The Senate office didn’t communicate with the House office that first opened the case on the terms and details of the settlement, according to Lett’s “lessons” memo. Other than a conversation between Hastings and Cardin in 2014 that a settlement had been reached, Hastings was never provided any details of the settlement until it was reported in the press last week.
“Until (last Friday) evening, I had not seen the settlement agreement between the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and Ms. Packer,” Hastings said. “At no time was I consulted, nor did I know until after the fact that such a settlement was made.”
It’s not the first settlement where the accused was not made aware of the details. An attorney to former Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., said the congressman was unaware of $100,000 worth of sexual harassment-related payments to former staffers in 2010, according to ABC News. Massa’s attorney, James D. Doyle, said that the process is unfair to both the victim and the accused.
Further shrouding this taxpayer-funded process and payouts is the lack of information provided to lawmakers and the public.
The amount of Packer’s settlement, $200,000, the largest known to date, was not included in recent details about sexual harassment settlements and payments given to the House Administration Committee, including an $84,000 settlement for an employee of Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas.
Congress has wrestled with these issues in a more urgent way since the recent wave of sexual misconduct allegations began sweeping through virtually every sector of America over the past months, including several high-profile cases that have brought down members of the House and Senate.
Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., chairman of the House Administration Committee, told NBC News that he will introduce bipartisan legislation next week to reform the entire adjudication process for accusers and the accused as a way to provide more transparency to the public.
In the meantime, leaders on Capitol Hill continue to struggle to explain how these past settlements happened in the first place.
Who were involved
Yes - the whole situation is a classic, textbook example of “Abuse of Power”!!!
Only $115,000.00? Really? I will take that figure with a grain of salt ... the size of Rhode Island.
[[Congress paid out $115,000 in sexual harassment claims from 2008 - 2012]]
That’s it? Didn’t gretchen get like 30 million or something? (I think it was her?)