by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Way back in 1995 the United States Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act, a law which set up a system for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse toward members of Congress, a piece of legislation which some now say traumatizes victims more than the sexual abuse they initially suffered at the hands of our elected leaders. The act forces victims into counseling and mediation before they can sue their attackers, and then, if they sue and win, payoffs are made through a secret hush fund of public money.
According to a recent account by Fox News, over 200 secret payments totaling more that $17 million have been paid out since the law to protect the reputations of members of Congress went into effect twenty-two years ago. The Washington Post puts the number of payoffs at two hundred and sixty-seven. Representative John Conyers of Michigan reportedly tapped the secret fund for $27,000 to pay off an accuser, and Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas made news this week when he promised to reimburse the government $80,000 that was used to pay off his accuser.
Victims who receive payouts through the congressional hush fund sign a confidentiality agreement to keep their settlement secret. Now, of course, there is a movement underway to roll back the secrecy and let Americans see which of their esteemed leaders have benefited from taxpayer-funded payoffs.
Again according to Fox:
Citizen Journalist
Way back in 1995 the United States Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act, a law which set up a system for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse toward members of Congress, a piece of legislation which some now say traumatizes victims more than the sexual abuse they initially suffered at the hands of our elected leaders. The act forces victims into counseling and mediation before they can sue their attackers, and then, if they sue and win, payoffs are made through a secret hush fund of public money.
According to a recent account by Fox News, over 200 secret payments totaling more that $17 million have been paid out since the law to protect the reputations of members of Congress went into effect twenty-two years ago. The Washington Post puts the number of payoffs at two hundred and sixty-seven. Representative John Conyers of Michigan reportedly tapped the secret fund for $27,000 to pay off an accuser, and Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas made news this week when he promised to reimburse the government $80,000 that was used to pay off his accuser.
Victims who receive payouts through the congressional hush fund sign a confidentiality agreement to keep their settlement secret. Now, of course, there is a movement underway to roll back the secrecy and let Americans see which of their esteemed leaders have benefited from taxpayer-funded payoffs.
Again according to Fox:
"A nonpartisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civil Trust (FACT), has called for the immediate release of the names of all lawmakers connected to the taxpayer payouts by the Office of Compliance to settle harassment suits over the past two decades."FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold was quoted as saying:
"That is an egregious affront to all the victims, as well as taxpayers. We don't need speeches and public posturing - we need the internal policy to change and immediate transparency."Lift the veil of secrecy, Congress. Show us your rodents!
2 comments:
I'm surprised that it's Fox that is bringing some of this to light. You have to wonder if the network checked with the defiler-in-chief before giving out such information???
The entire political character assassination of Al Franken was apparently orchestrated by the radical reactionary political pundit Roger Stone. CBS drops that bomb noting that Stone tweeted Franken's fate:
“Hours before the allegations against Sen. Al Franken became public Thursday, Trump ally Roger Stone seemed to know they were coming.
A Twitter account linked to the former Trump adviser posted a quote from Stone in the early hours Thursday morning that suggested he expected allegations involving the Minnesota Democrat to go public.
QUOTE: Roger Stone says it's Al Franken's "time in the barrel". Franken next in long list of Democrats to be accused of "grabby" behavior.
— Enter The Stone Zone (@stonezonetweets) November 16, 2017” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-stone-appears-to-have-known-about-al-franken-allegations-hours-before-they-went-public/
The Daily Kos lays the plot to get Franken squarely at the feet of puppet master Roger Stone with Gillibrand as his marionette. https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/7/1722387/-So-When-It-Comes-Out-That-Tweeden-Was-a-Stone-Plant
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