Blake Farenthold, Texas Congressman Accused of Sexual Harassment, Will Not Run Again

[Borealis]

[URL="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/us/politics/blake-farenthold-texas-harassment.html"]source[/URL]

[QUOTE]WASHINGTON — Representative Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican who settled a lurid sexual harassment claim with his former communications director for $84,000 and faced accusations from other aides that he ran a hostile workplace, announced Thursday that he will not run for re-election, saying the allegations have become “a political distraction.”

He is the fourth lawmaker in two weeks to announce his eventual departure from Congress amid the swirl of sexual allegations and the sixth this year.

In a five-minute-long video posted on his campaign’s [URL="https://www.facebook.com/ElectBlakeF/"]Facebook page[/URL], Mr. Farenthold denied the sexual harassment allegations from his former communications director, Lauren Greene. But he admitted, with unusual candor, that he had run an “unprofessional” workplace and that his own temper sometimes got out of hand, describing himself as “profoundly sorry” for his conduct.

“I’d never served in public office before. I had no idea how to run a congressional office, and as a result I allowed a workplace culture to take root in my office that was too permissive and decidedly unprofessional,” Mr. Farenthold said.

“It accommodated destructive gossip, offhand comments, off-color jokes,” he went on, adding, “and I allowed the personal stress of the job to manifest itself in angry outbursts and too often a failure to treat people with the respect that they deserved. That was wrong.”[/QUOTE]

related

[URL="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/us/politics/blake-farenthold-sexual-harassment.html"]Tawdry Tales Depict a Texas Congressman's Frat House on the Hill[/URL]

[QUOTE]

WASHINGTON — When Lauren Greene, a former communications director for Representative Blake Farenthold, sued him claiming sexual harassment, among her complaints was that he “disclosed that a female lobbyist had propositioned him for ‘a threesome.’”

Mr. Farenthold, in legal documents, said that Ms. Greene had it wrong. The woman wasn’t a lobbyist, he said.

As allegations of sexual misconduct rock Capitol Hill — three lawmakers announced their resignations last week alone — Mr. Farenthold, Republican of Texas, stands out as the survivor. He was sued over accusations of sexual harassment three years ago, paid out an $84,000 settlement, financed by taxpayers, and has an open Ethics Committee investigation into his behavior. Yet only a few Republicans have called for his resignation.

A peek into the inner workings of his office reveals the kind of hostile work environment, rife with sexual innuendo, that prompted Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, [URL="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/politics/sexual-harassment-congress-capitol-hill.html"]to call Congress “the worst” place for women to work[/URL].[/QUOTE]

[ThePinkPanzer]

Damn, this and Hatch. what little hold the Republicans had is rapidly falling apart even before the election.

[Borealis]

related

[URL="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/us/politics/farenthold-sexual-harassement-settlement-taxpayers-congress.html?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article"]Taxpayers Paid $84,000 to End Sex Harassment Claim Against Texas Lawmaker[/URL]

[QUOTE]WASHINGTON — Representative Blake Farenthold, Republican of Texas, used $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment claim, one of six settlements for workplace issues ranging from veteran status discrimination to age bias that were paid out by a secretive congressional office since 2013.

The six settlements for malfeasance in House offices totaled $359,450.

Details of the settlements emerged Friday after Congress’s Office of Compliance answered demands for information from the Committee on House Administration, part of an extensive review of sexual harassment and discrimination in congressional offices. The sexual harassment and indiscretion scandals that had already ensnared Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, and Representative Joe Barton, Republican of Texas, pulled in two more lawmakers, Mr. Farenthold and Representative Ruben Kihuen, Democrat of Nevada.

A former finance director of Mr. Kihuen’s congressional campaign told Buzzfeed News that the up-and-coming young Democrat repeatedly propositioned her for sex and touched her inappropriately until she abruptly quit the campaign.[/QUOTE]