Nancy Mace Says Taxpayers Paid Over $300,000 In Sexual Harassment Settlements

Newly released documents reviewed by CNN and tied to GOP Rep. Nancy Mace show that taxpayers paid more than $300,000 in confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of six former members of the House of Representatives or their offices. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights was compelled to turn over settlement documents to Congress after a subpoena from Mace, and CNN reviewed over 1,000 pages of case files, including counsel notes, settlement documents and formal complaints. The payments were funded by taxpayer money from a Treasury account that is no longer available for such use, and the OCWR general counsel said the office approved 349 awards or settlements “to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices” from January 1, 1996, through December 12, 2018. CNN also reported that, within that larger set, seven cases led to payments to address allegations of sexual harassment, and that 23 case files were destroyed under the office’s record retention policy.

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Mace said the “results of my subpoena of Congress’s sexual harassment slush fund are in. Nine members. One thousand pages,” and she said she plans to release the documents “once we confirm that personally identifiable information of victims and witnesses has been properly redacted.” In a statement shared on X, she identified six former lawmakers or their offices, including former Reps. Rodney Alexander, John Conyers, Blake Farenthold, Eric Massa, Carolyn McCarthy and Patrick Meehan. Alexander told The Independent that “there were two separate and unrelated incidents,” and said “settlement payments were made by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.” The Independent also reported that Farenthold “publicly promised to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for $84,000,” while Meehan said, “I will pay $39,000.00 to the U.S. Treasury to reimburse for the severance payment that was made from my office account.”

The documents CNN reviewed describe how OCWR’s record retention policy affected the case files, with CNN reporting that 23 case files of settlements in the office’s jurisdiction were destroyed pursuant to that policy. CNN also quoted OCWR General Counsel John N. Ohlweiler writing that the “OCWR Record Retention Policy” was put in place in 2013 to align OCWR with regular government-wide record retention practices. After policy changes made in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo Movement, the House Ethics Committee said it “has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment by a member.” The Independent reported that Congress passed a law in 2018 prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars for future settlements related to sexual harassment, and that the House Ethics Committee stated that no new awards or settlements have been made since the new law took effect.

“Newly released documents suggest public funds covered confidential sexual harassment settlements”

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