Posted on 12/09/2017 8:28:33 AM PST by Liz
Congress is struggling with the wave of sexual harassment allegations engulfing their institution. With no clear roadmap, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other leaders are responding on a case-by-case basis — and on the fly.
The stream of public revelations has put leaders in a pressure cooker.....they face pressure to forge quick judgments about the credibility of the allegations and the severity of the misconduct, often while relying on reports from anonymous accusers.
The makeshift method has led to swift calls for resignation for some members and a messy, painful, drawn-out process for others.
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) will resign this week after his female Senate colleagues called for his ouster. Meanwhile, Pelosi waffled for days about whether the dean of the House, Michigan Democrat John Conyers, should go after multiple female ex-staffers called him out for unwanted advances and groping.
Ryan quickly urged Rep. Trent Franks to resign after the Arizona Republican admitted he asked a pair of female staffers to become surrogate mothers and bear his children. (Franks resigned Friday).
But Ryan has been more muted in dealing with the unique cases of two Texas Republicans: Reps. Blake Farenthold (used $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle a staffer’s harassment claims) and Joe Barton (sexted a constituent on Facebook and a nude selfie of himself leaked on Twitter).
The uneven response has infuriated some lawmakers, who’ve demanded more aggressiveness from their leadership. It’s sparked accusations from others, particularly members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), that leaders have employed a double standard in their approach to individual cases.
And it’s prompted near-universal calls for the adoption of a clear set of guidelines on Capitol Hill that would empower victims to report abuse and settle cases, while protecting the accused from false allegations.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
“The Treasury Department paid.....”. Who cut the check? It’s obvious even low level clerks knew about it.
They created their own system to protect themselves. I can’t imagine that when a new person is sworn in he’s not told about the sexual harassment system that will be used in case someone “fraudulently accuses” them of unwanted sexual advances. They are ALL complicit.
This all started with the Democrats’ attempt to torpedo Judge Roy Moore’s candidacy for the Senate. It’s turned on them like an angry wildcat.
To paraphrase Yamamoto, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill her with a terrible resolve.”
Its just money. The presses are running 24/7.
Anonymous charges from anonymous complaints about anonymous Congressmen = Guaranteed FRAUD. Keep anonymity UNTIL the charge is “investigated” independently and payment approved. THEN reveal the Congressman, and MAKE HIM PAY.
If they aren’t going to hush it up anymore they need to let the members be charged, go to court and live by the decision. It isn’t their problem.
It's the secret payoffs of accusers by donors and lobbyists that matter.
You nailed it........it's organized crime.
They're all in it together.
There's plenty of protection money there to keep themselves in office.
Irregardless of their crimes, they get off scot-free.
There’s a huge paper trail......the Treasury doesn’t write checks anonymously.
I'm "reeling" from the audacity of these people to have a formal slush fund set aside for sexual misconduct coverups and silencing by it's members.
And the gaul to use taxpayer revenue to fund that honey pot.
An outrage.
As it was once said, You’re either for me or against me. EVERY member of congress and all of their aids have always known about this racket. Not saying they’ve all needed to use the funds. But they’ve never said a word about their “good friends” using them.
Exactly the way organized crime works....”the omerta.”
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