$40K penalty in harassment case has been paid, says aide to ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows
A $40,000 penalty by the House Ethics Committee against former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows has been paid in full, a Meadows adviser said Thursday. The fine stemmed from Meadows’ handling of sexual harassment allegations against a former Congressional aide.
Last Friday was the deadline for Meadows to have paid the money to the U.S. Treasury. The ethics committee investigation found he had overpaid the former staffer after he was no longer working out of the congressional offices.
“The payments have already been made in full and the case was closed,” said Ben Williamson, Meadows’ former Congressional spokesman, in an emailed statement to The News & Observer. Williamson is now a communications adviser at the White House, where Meadows became chief of staff seven weeks ago.
Williamson provided the statement after Tom Rust, the staff director and chief counsel for the committee, declined to comment on whether the fine was paid or the case had been closed.
Rust also declined to produce records showing the status of the case and did not offer an explanation why the committee could not discuss it.
Williamson also did not provide documents showing the outcome. Meadows, 60, who represented the 11th district in Western North Carolina for seven years before becoming President Donald Trump’s fourth chief of staff, declined to be interviewed about the payments.
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat who is chairman of the committee, did not respond to a request from The N&O for information through his spokesman, Jason Atterman, who referred all questions back to Rust.
NO CONFIRMATION FROM TREASURY
The U.S. Treasury has not provided confirmation of the payments, after email requests from The N&O.
The required payment stems from the ethics committee’s investigation into Meadows’ handling of sexual harassment complaints several female staffers had made against his former chief of staff, Kenny West.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article242880986.html
Meadows reprimanded in handling of Kenny West harassment allegations
A report from the House Ethics Committee Friday orders U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows to pay more than $40,000 back to the U.S. Treasury for continuing to pay a former staffer accused of sexually inappropriate behavior.
The investigation followed reports in 2015 alleging Meadows' former Chief of Staff Kenny West of sexual harassment.
"Rep. Meadows could have and should have done more to ensure that his congressional office was free from discrimination or the perception of discrimination," the report says. "While Rep. Meadows did take some important immediate steps after learning of the allegations of sexual harassment by Mr. West, he did not do enough to address the allegations or to prevent potential further harassment or retaliation."
The report also says that after West was removed from his position, he was still paid his same salary rate for another two months.
https://www.blueridgenow.com/news/20181116/meadows-reprimanded-in-handling-of-kenny-west-harassment-allegations%
Sexual harassment allegations with Meadows' staffer?
That blog posting featured four anonymous sources who told The Huffington Post that West exhibited inappropriate behavior toward female staffers in Meadows' office, including "his insistence a woman hold hands and pray with him." One male source said West did not know "how to talk in front of women," while another said West "paws on people."
https://www.citizen-times.com/amp/74046274