The freshman Nevada Democrat Rep. Ruben Kihuen is accused of harassing a campaign aide during his 2016 campaign. | Chase Stevens/AP Ethics Committee launches investigation into Kihuen

The House Ethics Committee has launched an investigation into Rep. Ruben Kihuen over allegations of sexual harassment, the panel announced on Friday.

Yet the Kihuen investigation may prove difficult for the Ethics panel to handle. The allegations against Kihuen involve behavior that reportedly took place before he was sworn into Congress. While there is no rule preventing the Ethics Committee from looking at actions taken by a lawmaker before his or her election, it has traditionally shied away from doing so. It's also an open question whether the Ethics Committee even has the authority to sanction pre-congressional behavior.


The freshman Nevada Democrat has been accused of harassing two women — a former campaign aide and a Nevada lobbyist.

Kihuen denies the allegations and has rejected calls for his resignation from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.).



“As I’ve said previously, I intend to fully cooperate, and I welcome an opportunity to clear my name," Kihuen said in a statement following the Ethics Committee's announcement.

Reps. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), chairwoman and ranking member of the Ethics Committee, said in a statement that the secretive panel had begun a probe into Kihuen on its own authority, as is allowed under House rules.

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"The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Ruben Kihuen may have engaged in sexual harassment," Brooks and Deutch said in their statement. "The Committee ... has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations."

The national furor over sexual harassment and the treatment of women has already had a huge impact on Capitol Hill, with more allegations expected to emerge in the coming weeks and months.

Former Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the dean of the House, resigned after it was revealed he allegedly harassed three female aides and used $27,000 in taxpayer funds to settle one case. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) has also announced his retirement following disclosure of an $84,000 payment to a former aide who alleged harassment as well. Farenthold is currently under investigation by the Ethics Committee. And Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced his resignation last week after media reports of alleged groping and inappropriate conduct involving eight women.

BuzzFeed News reported on Dec. 1 that a woman who worked as Kihuen's finance director alleged that he repeatedly harassed and made sexual advances toward her during his 2016 congressional campaign. The aide said Kihuen "propositioned her for dates and sex despite her repeated rejections," according to BuzzFeed.

The aide told a DCCC staffer she was leaving Kihuen's campaign because of Kihuen's behavior.

For his part, Kihuen asserts that Pelosi and the DCCC were aware of claims of harassment made by his former aide.

The Nevada Independent reported on Wednesday that Kihuen made "repeated and unwanted sexual advances toward a female lobbyist while he was a state senator," according to the woman.

The lobbyist "says that Kihuen touched her thighs or buttocks on three separate occasions without her consent. She also showed the Independent hundreds of suggestive text messages she received from Kihuen — including invitations to come sit on his lap in the middle of a committee hearing and repeated requests to spend the night at her place — over the course of the 2015 legislative session."

Kihuen told the newspaper he "dated several women" while in the state legislature and wouldn't respond to the allegations.

