Your tax dollars were supposed to fund roads, schools, and national defense. Instead, more than $300,000 of them went to quiet sexual harassment claims against lawmakers.
And for years, the public was kept in the dark.
Taxpayers have paid more than $300,000 in confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of six former members of the House of Representatives or their offices, according to GOP Rep. Nancy Mace and documents reviewed by CNN. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights was compelled to turn over the settlement documents to Congress following a subpoena from Mace, who has helped lead an effort on Capitol Hill to push for transparency and accountability following sexual misconduct allegations that led to a pair of high-profile resignations.
A CNN review of over 1,000 pages of case files, including counsel notes, settlement documents, and formal complaints, offers a window into allegations that certain members leveraged their positions of power to mistreat their staff.
The Numbers
From January 1, 1996, through December 12, 2018, the office approved 349 awards or settlements “to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices,” its general counsel said in a letter sent to House Oversight Chair James Comer. Eighty of those cases were settled by a House or Senate office for a host of different reasons. From that subset, seven cases led to payments to address allegations of sexual harassment.
The payments referenced in the letter used taxpayer money from a Treasury account that no longer exists as an option for lawmakers. In other words, the money is gone. And the system that allowed it has been changed — but only after the damage was done.
Twenty-three case files of settlements in the jurisdiction of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights were destroyed pursuant to the office’s record retention policy. Destroyed. Not archived. Not preserved for history. Destroyed.
“This ‘OCWR Record Retention Policy’ was put in place in 2013 to align OCWR with regular government-wide record retention practices,” General Counsel John N. Ohlweiler wrote. That may be standard practice. But when the records being destroyed involve taxpayer-funded settlements for sexual harassment, standard practice looks a lot like a cover-up.
The Legal Language
The general language of the settlement contracts reviewed by CNN does not have the accused office admitting to any wrongdoing. Rather, the settlements state that the office is agreeing to the resolution “to avoid the inconvenience of protracted litigation and the expense to the parties and the taxpayers of such litigation,” as one settlement read.
That is standard legal boilerplate. But it also means that no one ever had to admit guilt. The accusers got paid. The lawmakers walked away. The taxpayers footed the bill. And the public never knew who did what.
The Names
Mace named six former lawmakers or lawmakers’ offices involved in the settlements totaling more than $300,000 in an X post on Monday. Most of the members named by the congresswoman resigned from Congress after publicly facing allegations of sexual misconduct.
The list includes former Reps. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, and Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican. In several of these cases, it was publicly reported prior to their resignations that the member had used taxpayer funds for settlements. CNN has attempted to reach out to either the former member or a representative for all six members named by Mace. Three of the former lawmakers — including Conyers and Farenthold — are deceased.
In 2017, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Conyers, who at the time denied any wrongdoing but did not dispute the existence of a settlement or payment. The documents show that a severance payment of over $27,000 and another $50,000 settlement payment were made on behalf of Conyers.
Farenthold resigned in 2018 while also facing an ethics probe. He denied some of the allegations against him but apologized for using inappropriate language and for his role in creating a hostile workplace. He vowed to repay taxpayer money used for a settlement. The documents show that an $84,000 settlement was made on Farenthold’s behalf.
What Has Changed
Following policy changes made in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement, members could no longer rely on taxpayer dollars for settlements. The House Ethics Committee announced in a recent statement that since the enactment of the new law, “the Committee has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment by a member.”
That is progress. But it does nothing for the taxpayers who paid $300,000 to silence claims against lawmakers who are now, in some cases, dead.
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights is involved with a range of complaints against members, not exclusively sexual harassment claims. But the sexual harassment cases are the ones that have now been exposed. And the exposure raises a question: how many other settlements were destroyed? How many other accusers were paid off? And how much more taxpayer money was used to protect lawmakers from accountability?
The Bottom Line
Taxpayers have paid more than $300,000 in confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of six former members of the House of Representatives or their offices, according to documents reviewed by CNN. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights was compelled to turn over the documents following a subpoena from Rep. Nancy Mace. The settlements span from 1996 to 2018.
Among the named former lawmakers are the late Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX). Conyers’ office made a severance payment of over $27,000 and a $50,000 settlement. Farenthold’s office made an $84,000 settlement. Twenty-three case files were destroyed pursuant to the office’s record retention policy.
Following #MeToo-era reforms, taxpayer money can no longer be used for such settlements. But for years, the system allowed lawmakers to use public funds to quietly resolve sexual harassment claims — and the public was never told.
