Washington State Senate Moves to Hire Investigator to Look Into Rape Allegations Against Fain

Candace Faber, former technology advocate for the city of Seattle, accused Sen. Joe Fain (pictured) of raping her in 2007. He denies the allegations. WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE

Sponsored Port Townsend Film Festival Stream 24/7 - Watch 75 curated films with filmmaker interviews & special events. Support local arts!

Two days after the elections, and more than a month after Candice Faber accused Sen. Joe Fain of raping her in a Washington D.C. hotel room in 2007, members of the Senate Facilities and Operations Committee voted to hire a third-party investigator to look into Faber's accusation. On Wednesday, The Seattle Times reported that the committee scheduled a time today "to discuss a special budget authorization" to fund the investigation.

At the meeting, Democratic senate majority leader Sharon Nelson requested that the secretary of senate, Brad Hendrickson, "hire an investigator, preferably with experience in the area of sexual assault, to review the allegations and preferably report back to the senate by December 14, but no later than December 31" of 2018.

Members of the bipartisan F & O committee also include Sens. John McCoy, Andy Billig, Marko Liias, Randi Becker, and John Braun, all of whom voted to authorize the funds. Fain normally sits on this committee, but obviously there's a conflict of interest, and so Braun filled in.

Sen. Nelson and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Schoesler said in a press release that they "feel that the hiring of an independent third party provides the most potential for a fair, non-partisan and comprehensive outcome that is satisfactory to everyone involved."

During the Kavanaugh hearings in late September, Faber published a Tweet accusing Fain of raping her at a hotel in Washington D.C. in 2007. She's since followed up with a list of questions she'd like Fain to answer, and has said she'll cooperate with an investigation. Fain has denied the allegation and requested an investigation. Now it looks like he'll get one, unless he loses his Senate seat to Democratic challenger Mona Das. The Times reports that "lawmakers would re-evaluate an investigation if Fain loses."

In today's ballot drop, Das is now leading Fain by 206 votes after trailing by 90 yesterday.