Dunn's chief of staff resigns in face of ethics, sexual harassment probe

The chief of staff for Rep. Neal Dunn has resigned after being been named with his former boss in a House ethics probe.

The House Ethics Committee announced Tuesday that it formed an investigative subcommittee to investigate Brian Schubert and his former boss, Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania. Schubert was Meehan's chief of staff before working for Dunn, a Republican who represents Tallahassee, Panama City and other parts of the Big Bend.

“Brian Schubert chose to resign this morning,” Shelby Hodgkins, communications director for Dunn, said this afternoon. "It is Dr. Dunn’s policy that his office makes no statements regarding personnel issues."

The subcommittee will determine if Meehan and Schubert "engaged in conduct that constitutes sexual harassment, retaliation, or misuse of official resources," Committee chairwoman Susan Brooks, R-Ind., and ranking Democratic member Ted Deutch of Florida, said in a joint statement published earlier in USA Today.

The formation of the committee doesn't mean any violation occurred, they said.

Bob Rackleff, who is running against Dunn for the Florida 2nd Congressional District seat, said if his opponent "were prudent he would have called Schubert in and asked what was your role in this.”

“This is an obvious case of a very careless administration," said Rackleff, a former county commissioner and speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter.

Dunn's office did not provide a response to Rackleff's criticism.

The New York Times first reported that Meehan, 62, allegedly sexually harassed a former longtime female aide and paid her off with taxpayer dollars after she spurned his advances.

He has since resigned from the ethics committee and said he would not seek reelection.

Meehan admitted telling the aide they were "soul mates," but denied any wrongdoing, according to published reports.

“I welcome a fair and impartial investigation of this matter and am confident that no wrongdoing will be found,” Meehan said in a statement.

Contact Schweers at jschweers@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.