On Friday, The New York Post reported:
Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene called on Congress Thursday to release the names of current and former members on a secret list of lawmakers that have used taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment claims.
“Congress has secretly paid out more than $17 million of your money to quietly settle charges of harassment (sexual and other forms) in Congressional offices,” Massie (R-Ky.) wrote on X.
“Don’t you think we should release the names of the Representatives? I do,” he added.
Massie’s suggestion was quickly endorsed by Greene (R-Ga.).
…“Taxpayers should have never had to pay for that. Along with all the other garbage they should not have to pay for,” she argued.
Since 1997, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights has paid out more than $17 million in public money to settle nearly 300 cases of workplace disputes at the US Capitol – including claims related to sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation and pay disputes.
The obscure office does not release the identities of those have reached settlements and does not break down how much of the money disbursed over the last 27 years is specifically related to sexual harassment claims.
This is in response to making public the ethics committee report on Matt Gaetz. The report was filled with unproven allegations with evidence so flimsy that even the Merrick Garland politicized Department of Justice chose not to pursue the case.
The article concludes:
“Yes. Taxpayers deserve to know,” former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tweeted in support of Massie.
The demands from Massie and Greene follow the release of a House Ethics Committee report into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
In the aftermath of the controversial release of the report, which came after Gaetz resigned from Congress, the Florida Republican floated the idea of briefly returning to Capitol Hill for the sole purpose of exposing those on the secret list.
“Someone suggested the following plan to me,” Gaetz wrote on X last week. “1. Show up 1/3/2025 to congress 2. Participate in Speaker election (I was elected to the 119th Congress, after all…) 3. Take the oath 4. File a privileged motion to expose every ‘me too’ settlement paid using public funds (even of former members) 5. Resign and start my @OANN program at 9pm EST on January 6, 2025.”
Politico reported last week that some GOP lawmakers are already passing around a draft resolution that would do just that.
If you are willing to publish unfounded accusations against one Congress member, you should be willing to publish unfounded accusations against all Congress members.