Ethics Panel Opens Sexual Harassment Probe Into GOP Lawmaker Who Chaired House Ethics Panel
Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) is the latest lawmaker who paid a settlement.
Yet again, another lawmaker is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for allegations of sexual harassment. The Hill reports that an investigation has been opened into Representative Meehan related to a sexual harassment settlement that was paid out to a staffer. Oh, but this time it is alleged that the payment was made through his office budget - which is a big no no.
This comes after an report from the New York Times from this weekend that reports that Meehan paid a settlement to a former female staffer in excess of thousands of dollars using taxpayer money. They further reported that the money came out of Meehans "congressional office fund" which was used to disguise the payment as a "salary payment."
This all happened while Meehan was serving on the House Ethics Committee.
Directly after the story broke, Paul Ryan stated that he expected Meehan to repay the full amount. He also removed Meehan from his position on the House Ethics Committee.