The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:25 PM

OUR VIEW:  Matt Lauer Allegations Bad But At Least We As Taxpayers Didn't Pay For Him Being Sleazy As We Have Many Congressmen

The latest is former "Today" show host Matt Lauer who was fired Tuesday as ten women have come forward with lurid tales of sexual misconduct, buttons under desks that lock offices, and sexual encounters that caused one of Lauer's victims to pass out during the intercourse.

Sounds like we're living in a twilight zone movie in many ways. The sad fact is however, we're not. This is real life and it's gotten so ugly in many ways it makes you pause to consider what in the living regions below is going on.

Personally, I believe the shaking that is going on in every institution of our society right now is the Lord above is exposing corruption and hypocrisy on such a scale, that after this house cleaning there will not be too much left to be desired among those who have destroyed others while hiding their own sins.

Accusations and lawsuits over the past few months have come out so fast and furious it appears we’ve only scratched the surface. More dominos are about to fall, trust me. This is just the beginning.
Lauer's situation is without a doubt troubling, especially for his victims and for the network that seems to have known about his behavior for years and did nothing about it. Karma is such an ugly thing isn't it.

Just last month, Lauer ripped into former Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly over his alleged harassment of Fox News gals, then paraded two of Roy Moore's "victims" out in front of cameras to get their "scoop" in order to tear down the Alabama Republican Senate contender.
My, how those tables turned quickly in just a matter of days Matt. I wonder how it feels to have the shoe on the other foot. Probably not too great.

I'll throw in this aside. I've felt deep down in my heart that the Moore allegations, while horrible if true, have been a smoke screen by the left, to keep the public's attention from the barrage of sexual misconduct by their own "heroes," such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Sen. Al Franken, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Louis Gutierrez, and now Lauer.

Somehow it hasn't worked. Moore is up by 8 to 10 points in most polls across Alabama this late ahead of the December 12th election between him and Democrat Doug Jones. Jones is as liberal as Bernie Sanders and dangerous as Hillary Clinton. This should not be that hard of a choice but thanks to the allegations against Moore, the waters are muddied and the choices are not as clear. So much for that for now.

One thing about Matt Lauer, Weinstein, Spacey, they all may be sleaze balls when it comes to women and their behavior towards them. But they didn't use the American people's tax dollars to pay for their behavior. That is something that cannot be said about members of Congress including Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).

It is truly "mind-boggling" amid a wave of revelations of sexual misconduct in the worlds of entertainment, business, and politics, the congressional Office of Compliance released numbers that show the government has paid more than $17 million in taxpayer money to 264 victims over the last 20 years to resolve claims of sexual harassment, overtime pay disputes, and other workplace violations filed by employees of Congress.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said he will introduce legislation to unseal congressional records of taxpayer money that was used to pay for sexual harassment settlements.

It's truly pitiful and ridiculous such a law isn't already on the books.

It is the swampiest, D.C. thing I've ever heard of, where you can be an elected member of Congress misbehaving badly enough that there's some 'slush fund' paying people off to make the problem go away. Then on top of it all, you never ever get named, your actions never get named, and the dollars just flow out without taxpayers knowing a thing.

New Fox News host Laura Ingraham brought light to this little-known Congressional fund just a few weeks ago that has paid out $15.2 million to victims or accusers of sexual misconduct just over the past few years. The other $1.8 million paid out has been for other offenses.

This slush fund was so secret that even House Oversight Committee member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) had no idea it existed.

Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) have testified that they know of at least two members and an aide who have engaged in sexual harassment. "Why aren't they naming names? Why aren't others naming names?" Ingraham asked.

Ingraham said all members have an obligation to reveal the sexual misdeeds of their colleagues and also who has precipitated payments from the "shush" fund.

"We all have a right to know. They work for us. I want the names of the members accused."

She said America is home to the "government of the people, by the people, and for the people, not the government of anonymous gropers."

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN.), who is running for retiring Sen. Bob Corker's seat, said she was outraged to learn about the fund. She said we must use this most recent slew of accusations as a "tipping point" to finally address the widespread issue of inappropriate conduct in the workplace.

"The lack of respect, the diminishment of women, pushing women aside," Blackburn said. "I have talked to so many constituents, women of my age who've been in the workplace for years, and [they] have said they are really hopeful that we can end this and we can restore respect for the workplace, and that their daughters and granddaughters are going to be heard."

She said it doesn't matter whether one works in politics, entertainment, education or any other industry, it's time to have the tough conversations and demand that "this has to stop."

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, has settled multiple sexual harassment claims against female staffers including a $27K case in 2015 after a female staffer alleged she was fired because she rebuffed his sexual advances.

Charlie Rose, the longtime interviewer on PBS (which is supported by the taxpayers) was fired from his job for playing the “Oops, I dropped my towel again!” game with at least eight female employees. How does one even get into a situation where they’re at work and they’re only wearing a towel in front of their employees? (Please don’t answer that.)

There are likely far more congressional staffers — men and women — who have been victimized by Senators and Representatives, but we will never know about them because they opted not to put themselves through the lengthy, onerous, and humiliating process of filing a complaint under the Congressional Accountability Act.

When you understand the process in full, it’s easy to see why many staffers just throw their hands up in frustration and leave their job.

Imagine that you’re an intern or staffer for a member of Congress and a US Representative gropes your genitals on the House floor, as Rep. Jackie Speiers (D-CA) testified at least one Representative has done in recent years. Here’s the process that you would have to go through in order to be compensated for this indignity.

First, you file an initial complaint with the Congressional Office of Compliance. Then you get to suffer through 30 days of mandatory “counseling.” Once you complete that 30-day process, you must sign a confidentiality agreement stating that you will keep your mouth shut about the Representative (or Senator) who groped you.

Then you get to sit through 30 days of mandatory mediation, followed by a 30-day “cooling off” period. So from the time when a Representative or Senator gropes you until you can actually file a formal complaint, 90 days passes.

Once the formal complaint is filed, you have to go through an administrative hearing and negotiations and prove your case, and then the House Committee on Administration will vote on whether to approve your settlement, which is then paid with taxpayer funds.

To make the process even more infuriating, you get to pay for your own attorney to represent you through the process, while the accused Member of Congress gets a taxpayer-funded lawyer to represent them.

At the end of that entire process, you are finally paid a settlement from the taxpayers. The Representative or Senator pays nothing out of pocket, not even attorney fees. Plus, because you signed a confidentiality agreement months earlier, the congressman’s identity and actions are hidden from the public.

A Member of Congress in other words faces ZERO consequences for their actions, which allows them to continue behaving the same way for years to come. So much for the “accountability” portion of the Congressional Accountability Act.

Congressional staffers are actually prohibited by law from filing a harassment complaint with the EEOC, as other federal workers are allowed to do. This prohibitive congressional complaint process also applies to employees at the Government Accountability Office, the Library of Congress, and the Congressional Budget Office.

When you think of the high turnover rates in the House and Senate, and the tens of thousands of employees who have worked there since 1995, it makes you wonder how many people were harassed, groped, or otherwise humiliated and never spoke out.

There is no accountability possible when the entire process takes place in the shadows like this. The best way to bring people like Conyers (D-MN) and Franken (D-MN) to account is to shine a light on their actions, which will cause them to step down in shame or allow the voters to send them packing.

It’s an outrage that this is being kept secret from the American people. We do know that there is a paper trail on the 264 victims who have been paid settlements after they were harassed by Senators and Representatives.

The public has a right to know which elected officials have settled these cases, since our money was used to hush up the victims.

If you’d like to place a call to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office, the number is 202-225-0600. Tell Ryan’s office that you want the full list of Representatives and Senators who have settled sexual harassment complaints through the Congressional Office of Compliance to be publicly released.

Let the dominos fall where they may. This house cleaning of the Swamp may take a very long time.

 

Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge

Great Smoky Mountain Journal