House Tables Mace Resolution to Expose Congress' Sexual Misconduct Records
'This is the kind of transparency Congress needs right now'
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WASHINGTON- The House voted to table a resolution on Wednesday aimed at forcing the House Ethics Committee to release all its records on investigations into sexual misconduct involving lawmakers.
Thirty-eight Republicans and 27 Democrats supported the measure — Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) — coming up for a full vote, which will now instead be referred to committee, where its fate remains uncertain. One Republican, Rep. Brad Knott (R-N.C.) — a member of the House Ethics Committee — voted present.
Under the resolution, the panel “would be required to publicly release all reports, conclusions, draft reports, recommendations, and accompanying materials within 60 days of adoption. Personally identifiable information of victims or alleged victims would be redacted to protect their privacy.”
The resolution comes in the wake of Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) facing sharp criticism from a growing number of colleagues over allegations he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.
“I know there’ll probably be a fight on the floor. It’ll probably go down and be tabled, but this is the kind of transparency Congress needs right now. We’re talking about members like Tony Gonzales — this young woman killed herself in the most horrific way, she set herself on fire and died, and we’re just going to shrug it off and let the process play out,” Mace told 24sight News on Tuesday.
Multiple Republican women have taken aim at Gonzales over the accusations, calling for him to step down. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced a censure resolution to formally condemn the Texas lawmaker, who faces a runoff battle against primary opponent and gun-rights activist Brandon Herrera after the incumbent failed to garner 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
Mace said she is also exploring options to expose an alleged slush fund used to pay off sexual harassment claims in Congress, adding that she plans to “subpoena the slush fund on the Oversight Committee — that’s the one way to get it.”
The House Ethics Committee — which announced an investigation into Gonzales on Wednesday — came out against the Mace resolution, making the case it could retraumatize victims and hinder their ability to get witnesses to cooperate.
“All Members of the Committee treat their roles with solemn responsibility and utmost seriousness. Regardless of party affiliation, there is a shared view that sexual harassment and workplace misconduct in particular have no place in the halls of Congress. Here and elsewhere, perpetrators of sexual misconduct should never be shielded from responsibility for their misdeeds,” the committee said in a statement.
“We believe the forced disclosures mandated by House Resolution 1072 could chill victim cooperation and witness participation in ongoing and future investigations. Victims may be retraumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits. And witnesses, who often only speak to the Committee confidentially or on condition of future anonymity, could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.”
He has come under substantial scrutiny after text messages obtained by 24sight News revealed correspondence between the congressman and his late staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, in which he asked for sexual photos and expressed his preferences. She responded by pushing back, saying it had gone “too far.”
Gonzales has asserted he has no plans to step down.
The runoff election for his primary is scheduled for May 26, with early voting running from May 18–22.
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