Another Democrat has been revealed to have used the controversial Congressional “slush fund” in 2006 to cover up sexual harassment allegations — Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York.
What were the accusations?
Meeks was not himself accused of sexual harassment, but a former staffer said that she was harassed by him and his office after she reported sexual harassment by an employee of a donor to the congressman, according to the Daily Caller.
Andrea Payne, then a congressional aide, sued after she was fired for filing a complaint at the Office of Compliance, the agency at the center of the sex predator slush fund controversy.
“This is an action to recover for damages sustained by plaintiff when Rep. Meeks violated her constitutional rights by retaliating against her, and ultimately terminating her employment, because of her sexual assault lawsuit,” said Payne’s attorneys in her subsequent lawsuit.
Payne had filed a lawsuit against a physical therapy clinic where she says an employee had sexually harassed her. The owner of the business was a donor of Meeks and angrily confronted him about the lawsuit, according to the Daily Caller.
Who else benefited from the harassment slush fund?
Democrats Rep. John Conyers (Mich.) and former Rep. Eric Massa (N.Y.) used the same agency to secretly settle accusations of sexual harassment, while Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold (Tex.) also benefited from the office’s services, all at taxpayers’ expense.
Here’s Rep. Meeks discussing John Conyers’ sexual harassment allegations
Meeks discussed the allegations of sexual harassment against Conyers in a segment on MSNBC that has taken on new meaning with the current revelations.
“The two highest forms of claims of discrimination are race and sex/gender, which is reflective of a systemic problem in America we have to address,” Meeks said at the time.
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