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The longest-sitting member of Congress, Democrat John Conyers of Michigan, is “expressly and vehemently” denying any wrongdoing following Buzzfeed’s blockbuster report that he paid off a former employee by three extra months of pay after firing her for what she claims was opposition to his sexual advances.
She Said A Powerful Congressman Harassed Her. Here’s Why You Didn’t Hear Her Story.
Conyers confirmed he made the settlement in a statement Tuesday afternoon, hours after this story was published, but said that he “vehemently denied” the claims of sexual harassment at the time and continues to do so.
And the documents also reveal the secret mechanism by which Congress has kept an unknown number of sexual harassment allegations secret: a grinding, closely held process that left the alleged victim feeling, she told BuzzFeed News, that she had no option other than to stay quiet and accept a settlement offered to her.
Unlike accusations that keep popping up on a seemingly daily basis, this one has a very clear paper trail. That the Congressman is denying “wrongdoing” exemplifies a bigger problem than just sexual misconduct. Men like Conyers do bad things, but more importantly they truly believe they should get away with it.
“No wrongdoing” is legaleze
There seems to be no difference, at least in the minds of people like Conyers, between getting away with doing wrong and not actually doing it. At no point yet has Conyers claimed he isn’t a creep who uses his power to manipulate women he employs into being sexual objects for him. That isn’t what’s important to him. What’s important is that he got his victims to sign documents absolving him legally from his actions.
For this reason, he believes he needs to continue to represent the people of Michigan who have kept him in office for half a century.
This is a systemic problem that exists everywhere in free America, but the fact that it’s apparently rampant in Washington DC is utterly disgusting. In a seven-year period, Congress dished out millions of dollars to 235 people for “workplace violations.” Perhaps more infuriating is that it’s not the perpetrators, their campaigns, or their Congressional offices who pay for these settlements. They’re paid by taxpayers.
How Congress plays by different rules on sexual harassment and misconduct
When settlements do occur, members do not pay them from their own office funds, a requirement in other federal agencies. Instead, the confidential payments come out of a special U.S. Treasury fund.
Congressional employees have received small settlements, compared with the amounts some public figures pay out. Between 1997 and 2014, the U.S. Treasury has paid $15.2 million in 235 awards and settlements for Capitol Hill workplace violations, according to the congressional Office of Compliance. The statistics do not break down the exact nature of the violations.
How do we stop this from happening? How can we protect the women and men who are victimized? How do we get these creeps out of the halls of power in our nation’s capital? We need to make it as transparent as possible.
Every settlement dollar should be broadcast to the world
If an incident is worthy of having taxpayer dollars used to hush people up, then the people need to know about it. We need to know who did what. While payment of settlements aren’t always done because of actual crimes committed, we should have the ability to discern for ourselves when an elected official does something worthy of a payout.
The club in DC is corrupt. We all know this. While it may be hard to track down all of the wrongdoing, we can at least attempt to address the misconduct by public officials against their own employees. That’s a reasonable expectation.
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