Further details have emerged about the sexual harassment claim brought by a former aide against Republican Congressman Patrick Meehan, including that he referred to the aide as his ‘soul mate’.
Meehan, a three-term congressman from Pennsylvania, was removed from the House Ethics Committee on Saturday following the emergence of the report stating he had settled a sexual harassment claim brought by a former aide and did so with taxpayer money.
The report had said that Meehan, a 62 year-old married father-of-three and the former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, had been a mentor for the unnamed aide.
But when the aide got involved in a serious relationship with someone else, Meehan expressed his interest – both in person and in a handwritten letter, it is claimed. The New York Times report says he grew hostile when she didn’t reciprocate. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he reacted ‘poorly’.
Patrick Meehan, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, apparently penned a letter to a female aide thanking God ‘for putting you into my life’ and stating: ‘You are kind and sensitive and caring and infectious with your laugh. You are and have been a complete partner to me and you have brought me much happiness’
Details of the letter, which he wrote in May, have been revealed by the Philadelphia Inquirer. He thanked God in the letter ‘for putting [the aide] into my life’ and it was signed: ‘With all my heart, Patrick.’
Part of the letter reads: ‘You are kind and sensitive and caring and infectious with your laugh. You are and have been a complete partner to me and you have brought me much happiness.’
She apparently texted him back with thankful words ‘for your very kind words and for your friendship’.
Meehan, in an interview with the Inquirer, confirmed the Times’s report for the most part. He continues to deny that he harassed the aide and did not specify how much her settlement was worth.
He also said that his office did not have any ‘hierarchy’ and was called ‘Team Meehan’.
Serving on the Ethics Committee, Meehan has long been seen as an advocate, pushing for protections for domestic violence victims, sponsoring legislation that would mandate the reporting of sexual violence, and he is also a member of a bipartisan task force to end domestic violence.
The revelation comes following a report that he used taxpayer funds to reach a settlement with the aide, who filed a sexual harassment complaint against him
Meehan denies the harassment allegation against him. ‘Throughout his career he has always treated his colleagues, male and female, with the utmost respect and professionalism,’ his office said over the weekend
Meehan reached a confidential settlement with the aide and she left his office, it is claimed. He reportedly paid the settlement with his congressional office fund.
The New York Times did not identify the accuser and said she did not speak to the newspaper.
The congressman’s office said over the weekend that he had asked congressional lawyers who handled the case to ask the ex-aide’s lawyer to dissolve the settlement’s confidentiality requirements ‘to ensure a full and open airing of all the facts’.
‘Throughout his career he has always treated his colleagues, male and female, with the utmost respect and professionalism,’ Meehan’s office said.
The accuser’s lawyer, Alexis Ronickher, called the allegations ‘well-grounded’ and rejected the idea of doing away with confidentiality. Meehan is trying to victimize her client twice by revealing the woman’s identity and litigating the case in the media, Ronickher said.
Ronickher called it a ‘dirty political maneuver’ by Meehan and an effort to save his political career by making it look like he’s being transparent.
‘Mr. Meehan demanded confidentiality to resolve the matter, presumably so that the public would never know that he entered into a settlement of a serious sexual harassment claim,’ Ronickher said.
House Majority Leader Paul Ryan (Republican-Wisconsin) has called on Meehan to repay his congressional office fund
Ronickher said the Ethics Committee investigation must include the fact that Meehan, in his Saturday statement responding to the Times article, ‘knowingly breached confidentiality in his agreement by discussing the case and the terms of any potential settlement agreement.’
Meehan’s office did not respond to questions about whether he used taxpayer money to settle the case or whether he would submit to the Ethics Committee investigation. However, his office said Meehan would only act with advice of House lawyers and in line with House Ethics Committee guidance to resolve any allegation.
‘Every step of the process was handled ethically and appropriately,’ Meehan’s office said.
Protest calls are meanwhile mounting for him to resign.
House Speaker Paul Ryan reacted to the report swiftly, removing Meehan from his position on the Ethics Committee, and urging him to repay the fund.
In a statement, Ryan spokesperson AshLee Strong said: ‘Speaker Ryan takes the allegations against Mr. Meehan very seriously. The speaker is committed to rooting out sexual misconduct in the House and providing victims the resources they need.’
The Ethics Committee will now launch an investigation into Meehan’s actions. They are already investigating at least four other representatives, including Trent Franks (Republican-Arizona), John Conyers Jr. (Democrat-Michigan), Blake Farenthold (Republican-Texas) and Ruben Kihuen (Democrat-Nevada).