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On Tuesday, the House passed a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) that makes significant changes to the way that allegations of sexual harassment will be handled in Congress. The most significant reform in Speier’s bill (officially known as the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act ) appears to be a provision that forces lawmakers to pay back the U.S. Treasury when settling sexual harassment claims, a change that has drawn widespread support across ideological boundaries. Other popular provisions in the bill prohibit senators and representatives from dipping into their congressional office funds to pay off...

I don't post here much any more, but there seems to be a gap in the discussions on twitter about this subject from "Last Refuge," "Tom Paine," and "Jim Hoft." Freepers seem to be more clued into some of what I'm about to say. While everyone is focused on the Memo, the Inspector General Report, and Fusion GPS (and general FBI corruption), I think a powerful connecting link to much, perhaps all, rests in two locations: the House vault where they keep the payouts on the sex harassment funds, and the computer files of the Awans. Consider that when news...

The number of disclosed financial settlements between the House of Representatives and employees who alleged that they were harassed or otherwise wronged at work rose to 41 cases at a cost of nearly $1 million, according to newly released information dating back to 1996 published by the Committee on House Administration. The top Democrat and Republican on the panel jointly approved each of those settlements without being told the member’s office involved. Neither party’s representatives on the committee responded to a question about whether there were additional proposed settlements that they rejected or whether all of the proposed settlements were...

U.S. Sen. Al Franken said goodbye to staff members and supporters in Minneapolis on Thursday night, in his first public appearance in Minnesota since being accused of sexual harassment. Franken will officially step down from the Senate on Tuesday, with his successor – Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith – scheduled to be sworn in Wednesday to complete Franken’s term, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. The Democrat, a former "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer, said he didn't know what to expect when he first ran for office, “and of course, neither did Minnesotans.”

GOP Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, who chairs the Rules Committee, said further particulars cannot be made public, in order to respect the confidentiality afforded to victims. “While the Rules Committee has been eager to provide this information in a transparent manner, it has been our priority to protect the victims involved in these settlements from further harm,” the senator said in a statement attending the report.

Some Democratic senators now regret pushing accused groper Sen. Al Franken to resign, and are urging him to stay on, according to a new report. “I think we acted prematurely, before we had all the facts,” one anonymous senator told Politico. “In retrospect, I think we acted too fast.” Franken reluctantly bowed to his colleagues’ demands to step down earlier this month after he was accused of sexual assault by eight women, saying he’d leave the Senate “in the coming weeks.” Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith has been tapped as his replacement. But at least four senators — including three...

WASHINGTON — Andrea Ramsey, a Democratic candidate for Congress, will drop out of the race after the Kansas City Star asked her about accusations in a 2005 lawsuit that she sexually harassed and retaliated against a male subordinate who said he had rejected her advances. Multiple sources with knowledge of the case told The Star that the man reached a settlement with LabOne, the company where Ramsey was executive vice president of human resources. Court documents show that the man, Gary Funkhouser, and LabOne agreed to dismiss the case permanently after mediation in 2006. Ramsey, a 56-year-old retired business executive...

Capitol Hill is on pins and needles amid a deluge of sexual harassment allegations. According to the Daily Caller‘s Luke Rosiak, one of the leading journalists investigating the Awan brothers’ scandal, things are about to take yet another dark turn. “Congress’ human resources scandal is just getting started. I anticipate we will see the resignation of more than a dozen House members over harassment and secret settlements, and soon,” tweeted Luke Rosiak. Luke Rosiak ✔ @lukerosiak Congress' human resources scandal is just getting started. I anticipate we will see the resignation of more than a dozen House members over harassment...

A Kentucky state representative committed suicide Wednesday, two days after allegations he sexually assaulted a teenage girl were made public. According to Sheriff Donnie Tinnell of Bullitt County, Republican Rep. Dan Johnson killed himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, Kentucky. The coroner said he “died of a single gunshot wound” and determined it was “a probable suicide.”Police were alerted after Johnson posted a suicide note on Facebook. Officers pinged his cell phone and found his body next to his car.The lawmaker’s death comes after the Kentucky Center for Investigative reporting published an expose Monday detailing an allegation that Johnson had...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky State Rep. Dan Johnson, who was under investigation for alleged sexual molestation, has committed suicide. Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell said Johnson shot himself on a bridge on Greenwell Ford Road in Mt. Washington, and the gun was recovered.

WKYT - According to our CBS affiliate, WKYT, Kentucky State Representative Dan Johnson, who was under investigation for alledged sexual molestation, has committed suicide, according to a report from WDRB in Louisville. Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell said Johnson killed himself on a bridge on Greenwell Ford Road in Mt. Washington, and the gun was recovered. Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin released the following statement: Saddened to hear of tonight’s death of KY Representative Dan Johnson...My heart breaks for his wife and children...These are heavy days in Frankfort and in America...May God shed His grace on us all...We sure need it......

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., announced Friday that he is resigning from Congress effective immediately instead of waiting until the end of January. Franks said Thursday he would leave next month after it emerged that he discussed surrogate parenthood with two female staffers — some reports said he asked them directly to be a surrogate mother. But in a Friday a statement, Franks said his wife was admitted to a hospital Thursday night due to a recurring health issue, and that Friday would be his last day as a sitting member of Congress. "Last night, my wife was admitted to the...

On one hand, this is a potential bombshell. With Democratic gropers Al Franken and John Conyers finally on the way out, and the GOP divided over what to do if credibly-accused molester Roy Moore wins next week's special election in Alabama, could there be a big pile of shoes still waiting to drop on dozens of sitting members of Congress? On the other hand, would that outcome really be much of a surprise at this point? I direct your attention to this account of a tense hearing on the Hill a few weeks ago, at which female members decried and...

Minnesota state law is pretty clear on what the next steps will be, stipulating that in the event of a vacancy in the Senate, a special election “shall be held at the next November election if the vacancy occurs at least 11 weeks before the regular state primary preceding that election.” Franken’s resignation, if it happens tomorrow, will indeed occur more than 11 weeks before the state primary, meaning that a special election will be held in November 2018 to decide who Franken’s permanent replacement will be. In the meantime, Democratic Governor Mark Dayton is given the ability to make...

Embattled Sen. Al Franken will make an announcement Thursday, his office told reporters, as calls for the Minnesota Democrat's resignation rapidly gained momentum Wednesday in dramatic fashion. Twenty-three Democratic senators -- twelve female and eleven male including the second-ranking Democrat in chamber -- called on Franken to resign as allegations of sexual harassment against him continue to mount. Republican Sen. Susan Collins also called on Franken to quit.

At least six Democratic women in the U.S. Senate are calling on Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota to resign after the latest allegation of sexual misconduct was published Wednesday morning. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Sen. Mazie Hirono‏ of Hawaii, Sen. Maggie Hassan‏ of New Hampshire, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Sen. Kamala Harris of California each released statements of social media messages calling on Franken to resign. In the latest allegation, a woman told POLITICO that Franken tried to forcibly kiss her following a taping of his radio show in 2006. A...

Six senators on Wednesday called on fellow Democrat Al Franken to resign, in a jaw-dropping avalanche of statements addressing the latest allegations against the Minnesota senator. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, kicked things off, publishing a post on Facebook aptly titled “Senator Franken Should Step Aside” (read here). Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Patty Murray of Washington and Kamala Harris of California all followed suit. This comes on the heels of yet another woman coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Franken, which he has denied as “categorically not true.” Gillibrand’s...

Duck everybody, they’ll keep dumping their sleaze daily on the World Wide Web until they bring down the president “YO!” to Hillary Rodham Clinton and her shrill mainstream media shills: We get it! Sexual harassment—systemically ignored for decades—has become an overnight media sensation ignited by the insatiable venom of an embittered Hillary Clinton and her loyalists. In their own words: “The abrupt firing of NBC “Today” co-host Matt Lauer announced Wednesday prompted cheers among Hillary Clinton’s loyalists who feel that he was extraordinarily mean to her — and soft on President Trump — during the 2016 presidential campaign.” (Washington Examiner,...

Americans were rightfully outraged when they learned that members of Congress had used taxpayer dollars to pay settlement claims to alleged victims of sexual harassment.They were even more outraged when they saw the numbers. The secret payouts for harassment claims, of which there have been more than 200, amounted to more than $17 million. There's no telling so far how much of that money went to silence sexual assault accusers.Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is seeking to release the names of lawmakers who used this "hush fund." She's a co-sponsor of the Congressional Accountability and Hush Fund Elimination Act, which would...

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Cokie Roberts made a startling admission: "every female in the press corps knew" to avoid being in an elevator with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), and has apparently known about this "for years." Conyers has been accused of multiple instances of sexual harassment and has stepped down from the House Judiciary Committee. Despite the allegations against him, major players in the Democratic Party have defended Conyers and will not say that he should resign. Pelosi even referred to the embattled congressman as an "icon." Roberts was discussing the current culture on Capitol Hill with Martha Raddatz and Anna...