You cannot win if you never try.
This is a preliminary investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics, and it’s done in the wake of a March lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of former U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission) staffer Winsome Packer. The suit alleges sexual harassment, attempted extortion (for Hastings’ re-election campaign), and acts of retaliation against Ms. Packer’s attempts at whistle-blowing. According to the Judicial Watch suit (via Left Coast Rebel), informing then Commission Staff Director Fred Turner resulted in Turner’s joining with Rep. Hastings in said acts of retaliation; according to the Huffington Post, Sen. Ben Cardin (D, MD) (co-chair of the Helsinki Commission, then and now) and the then-Democratic-controlled House Ethics committee were likewise allegedly informed and did nothing (a Cardin spokeswoman declined to comment). It should also be noted that Turner is currently the “Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Co-Chairman at the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe” and one of Sen. Cardin’s key people.
In a better world, I could have some hope that the ultimate conclusion would be in doubt, but here is a hard truth: no matter what the investigation discovers or the lawsuit concludes, Alcee Hastings will probably still be a Congressman afterward. This is for three interconnected reasons: Continue reading Alcee Hastings’ (D, FL-23) sexual harassment investigation.