The ethics committee’s announcement of a Pat Meehan inquiry cited allegations of harassment as well as his use of his office budget to resolve his former aide’s claim. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Ethics panel opens harassment inquiry into Rep. Pat Meehan

The House Ethics Committee on Monday opened an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.), who left the panel two days earlier amid revelations that he settled a misconduct claim filed by a former aide.

The ethics inquiry follows a formal request by Meehan, whose office acknowledged on Saturday that he used his personal office budget to settle the harassment claim, after its existence was reported by The New York Times. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) is stepping into Meehan’s seat on the ethics panel, according to the committee.


The committee’s announcement of a Meehan inquiry cited allegations of harassment as well as his use of his office budget to resolve his former aide’s claim. The congressional Office of Compliance, created to adjudicate harassment claims, maintains a taxpayer-funded account for payment of misconduct settlements — but Meehan and former Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) used their office budgets to resolve their issues, a practice the Ethics Committee had no clear guidance about as of late last year .

Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The attorney representing Meehan’s female former aide has asked that the Ethics Committee’s investigation also examine whether the GOP lawmaker, a top target of Democrats in this year’s midterm elections, breached the confidentiality of his settlement.

