U.S. Rep. Farenthold acknowledges gender discrimination complaints by two more women

Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, is under fire in an ongoing sexual harassment probe. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, is under fire in an ongoing sexual harassment probe. Photo: Handout Photo Photo: Handout Photo Image 1 of / 71 Caption Close U.S. Rep. Farenthold acknowledges gender discrimination complaints by two more women 1 / 71 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON –Embattled Texas Republican Blake Farenthold, under fire in an ongoing sexual harassment probe, said Friday that he and his entire congressional staff underwent sensitivity and sexual harassment training last year after two female staffers complained of gender discrimination and "sexualized commentary" in his Capitol Hill office.

The women's complaints in 2016 followed that of former spokeswoman Lauren Greene, who had recently settled a federal lawsuit that accused Farenthold of sexual harassment and of firing her in retaliation for her complaint.

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The new revelations, which Farenthold acknowledged to the Chronicle on Friday, bring to at least three the number of women who have complained of either sexual harassment, gender discrimination, or a hostile work environment in his office.

Farenthold, a four-term congressman from Corpus Christi, has denied any wrongdoing in any of the cases, which come at a time when concerns about the treatment of women have exploded in Congress.

Although Farenthold admitted no wrongdoing in Greene's case, he settled the lawsuit out of court in late 2015 for $84,000 - using taxpayer funds that he has recently said he will repay.

Despite his pledge, Farenthold has begun to hear murmurs about stepping down, including from fellow Republican Mia Love of Utah. "This is about people taking responsibility for what they do and changing the culture in Washington," she said on CNN Thursday.

Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland called for Farenthold's resignation Friday. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, also said on Fox News Friday that Farenthold should resign if an ethics investigation finds that sexual misconduct accusations against him have merit.

Three other members of Congress have announced plans to quit this week in response to sexual harassment allegations: Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, and Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, a Republican.

Despite Farenthold's decision to pay the settlement with his own money, he still has maintained that he did nothing wrong and that Greene was fired for "poor performance."

Greene's lawyer, meanwhile, said Friday that she has agreed for the first time to fully cooperate with the House Ethics Committee, which reopened an investigation this week into her 2014 complaint.

Until now, Greene had sought to avoid working with the panel, saying she wanted to get on with her life after her 2015 confidential settlement with Farenthold.

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Citing new revelations, the Ethics Committee announced Thursday that it is extending its probe into Greene's original allegations, which have laid dormant in the two years since the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) investigation.

Farenthold has relied on the OCE's recommendation that the Ethics Committee drop Greene's case after investigators said in 2015 that they found no "substantial reason to believe" that the congressman had engaged in any wrongdoing.

The Ethics Committee, however, has kept the case open, though not actively under investigation until now.

"I don't believe the OCE's recommendation not to continue the case was a judgment on the ultimate merits of Ms. Greene's claims," said her Washington lawyer, Les Alderman. One proof of that, he added, is the Ethics panel's decision to take a fresh look at the case.

After details of their $84,000 taxpayer-funded settlement came to light last week, both Farenthold and Greene have called for greater public transparency in their dispute.

But Farenthold, 55, has since been hit with a new public account from another former spokeswoman, Elizabeth Peace, who left his office last March.

Although Peace came to Farenthold's office after Greene had left, she provided a similar account of a hostile and sexualized work environment. Neither accused Farenthold of improper sexual contact.

In her lawsuit, Greene, then 27, painted a picture of a socially awkward, hard-drinking, middle-aged man who reportedly had "sexual fantasies" and "wet dreams" about her. She also accused his chief of staff, Bob Haueter, of regularly belitting and humiliating her.

Peace, a former television news anchor, told the Chronicle in an interview this week that even after Greene had left, Farenthold "allowed the hostility in his office to continue. He allowed us to work in a place that was just emotionally damaging, and that should never be allowed in any office."

Peace, now 37, said that while Farenthold didn't sexually harass her directly, "his comments were inappropriate and his unwillingness to immediately take action to allow us to work in a safe environment is inappropriate."

Incidents of abusive behavior were not uncommon, according to another woman, former college intern Olivia de la Peña, who worked in Farenthold's office in the fall of 2015. Peña, now 23, said she experienced no sexually inappropriate behavior in the office, but instead learned to navigate what she called the congressman's "anger issues."

She said she once received an angry call from Farenthold about a travel mix-up that reduced her and the congressman's scheduler to tears. She said Farenthold later apologized.

Asked about Peace's account, Farenthold's office provided a statement recounting that two unnamed women complained separately to the congressman sometime in 2016 about allegedly discriminatory treatment they received in the office, particularly from Haueter.

According to Farenthold's office, the first woman brought forward her complaint of inappropriate behavior and gender-based treatment, saying Haueter treated her "differently." Then another woman came forward to report that the first woman had herself engaged in "inappropriate sexualized commentary in the workplace."

The Chronicle has confirmed that the second woman was Peace. The other woman, reached by the Chronicle, declined to confirm her involvement, saying she had "nothing to add."

In response to the complaints, Farenthold said he brought in an "independent investigative team" to address the two women's concerns.

"The investigation resulted in the first complaining employee admitting that her problem with Mr. Haueter was based on a personality conflict, and not any gender bias," Farenthold's current communications director, Stacey Daniels, said in a statement.

"With regard to the second complaint, the investigators did not find corroboration of the alleged sexualized comments attributed to the complaining employee," Daniels said.

Daniels said that the outside investigators determined that "there was no evidence of gender bias, or inappropriate sexualized comments by office personnel."

Despite that conclusion, she said Farenthold and the entire office staff took sensitivity and anti-harassment training to ensure "full compliance with office policy and the law."