Texas Congressman Blake Farenthold used $84K of federal fund to pay sexual harassment settlement

Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, takes a picture during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Rayburn Building on November 14, 2017, on oversight of the Department of Justice where Attorney General Jeff Sessions fielded a variety of questions including immigration and Russian meddling in the 2016 election. less Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, takes a picture during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Rayburn Building on November 14, 2017, on oversight of the Department of Justice where Attorney General Jeff ... more Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Image 1 of / 66 Caption Close Texas Congressman Blake Farenthold used $84K of federal fund to pay sexual harassment settlement 1 / 66 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON - A little-known Treasury Department fund created to settle workplace claims for members of Congress has paid only one settlement over alleged sexual harassment in the last five years, the office that handles workplace claims on Capitol Hill revealed Friday.

In a letter to the Committee on House Administration, the Office of Compliance disclosed that just one workplace complaint alleging sexual harassment was settled out of the Treasury fund between 2013 and the present. The Post confirmed that the member behind the $84,000 settlement was Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, who was sued by his former communications director over alleged harassment in 2014.

In total, the fund paid for settlements related to six claims against House members' offices during that time. The five complaints not pertaining to sexual harassment alleged one or more forms of employment discrimination and in some cases, retaliation, the letter stated.

The data sheds new light on the secretive process lawmakers use to settle workplace complaints against them and their aides. While claims of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill have grabbed national attention, the data shows that discrimination claims were more likely to be settled out of the Treasury fund in the last five years.

The fund is not the only source of settlement payments for lawmakers. Members like Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., have used their office budgets to settle - and conceal - complaints, a method that hampers public scrutiny.

On Friday, the House Ethics Committee plans to review all formal claims of sexual harassment, discrimination and mistreatment involving members and employees of the lower chamber, a sign the panel might assert its power to address mounting allegations of misconduct on Capitol Hill.

In their first major action following a public outcry over sexual harassment in Congress, Ethics Committee Chairwoman Susan Brooks, R-Ind., and ranking Democrat Ted Deutch, Fla., asked the Office of Compliance to provide "all records ... related to any claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or any other employment practice prohibited" under the Congressional Accountability Act.

The request covers complaints against current members and employees of the House, Brooks and Deutch wrote Friday in a letter to the OOC. It does not mean the records will become public.

Ethics watchdog groups welcomed the move as a sign the panel might wield its power to crack down on mistreatment of congressional aides.

"A nice change of pace to see the Ethics Committee asserting its jurisdiction," Meredith McGehee, executive director of Issue One, wrote in an email. "Usually they are looking for ways to avoid taking on hard questions, hoping the Member leaves or burying the allegations until the 'heat' goes away."

Last week, the ethics panel announced it would probe allegations that Conyers behaved inappropriately toward multiple female aides, its first public response to the sexual harassment debate on Capitol Hill.

Conyers was already under investigation by the ethics committee over what an independent ethics monitor described as a potentially improper severance arrangement with a former employee. House Democratic leaders, as well as a number of rank-and-file members, called Thursday for Conyers to resign over the harassment allegations.

Under the law, the executive director of the Office of Compliance has authority to share records of hearings and decisions with the House and Senate ethics committees. The executive director can share all written and oral testimony from hearings and decisions, but not information discussed in mediation.

It's unclear whether the OOC has ever shared information with the ethics committees. Laura Cech, spokeswoman for the office, said current officials in the Office of Compliance are not aware of any records of hearings and decisions that were provided to the ethics committees.