The House Ethics committee just sanctioned the top Republican Tea Party lawmaker for aiding and abetting sexual harassment in his Congressional office by his top aide, and it’s going to cost him dearly.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) is the leader of the “Freedom Caucus,” the nihilistic extremists who spend the majority of their time trying to eliminate every single tax and government expenditure they possibly can, especially when it comes to healthcare.
Meadows’ former Chief of Staff, Kenny West, was harassing the women working in his office, and the House Republican knew about it; his lack of response led to the House Ethics panel sanctioning him financially.
Instead of punishing West for doing wrong, Meadows just moved him to a new government job as “Senior Advisor” with no discernable duties. Politico reports:
Rep. Meadows was found to have violated House rules “by failing to take appropriate steps to ensure that his House office was free from discrimination and any perception of discrimination.”
Meadows will have to pay more than $40,000 to cover the cost of West’s salary.
According to the House Ethics Committee’s timeline, which you can read in full below, Mark Meadows consulted with Republican leadership multiple times about the complaints against West, which were so serious that he was banned from the Congressman’s district office.
Even Rep. Trey “Benghazi” Gowdy (R-SC) advised the North Carolina Republican, twice, to fire West, but that and an admonishment from Speaker Paul Ryan’s office didn’t do the trick.
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CNN’s MJ Lee tweeted the kind of inappropriate office behavior that caused the top staffer to the head of the Tea Party caucus to
"There is no place in any congressional office for looking up skirts, or down shirts; staring at a woman’s chest; unwanted touching; or making sexual comments, even if subtle or in jest."
— MJ Lee (@mj_lee) November 16, 2018
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A parade of bad actors has departed the House Republican caucus for sexual harassment over the last year, like anti-abortion Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Murphy who coerced his mistress into an abortion and who ran his office as incompetently as Meadows has done.
Murphy’s Pennsylvania colleague Rep. Pat Meehan, a former prosecutor who was in charge of investigating sexual harassment in Congress who departed after himself sending a series of unwanted love letters to a top staffer. Meehan also got hit with $39,000 in fines.
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Former Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) also resigned last year after an $84,000 sexual harassment settlement was revealed, but he refuses to pay back the money.
Sadly, voters didn’t get to weigh in on how he turned a Congressional office into a frat house.
Rep. Meadows won re-election in gerrymandered North Carolina last week with 59.2% of the vote.
Read the entire timeline of Mark Medows inflicting misery on his female staffers:
