Texas Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold used $84,000 of taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment case filed by his former spokeswoman.
Politico broke the news reporting that ex-aide Lauren Greene, Farenthold’s former communications director, sued the Texas lawmaker in 2014 after he fired her for reporting another aide’s inappropriate behavior, while he was acting inappropriately himself.
Farenthold allegedly told Greene that he was ‘estranged from his wife and had not had sex with her in years,’ while another male staffer, identified as Bob Haueter, told her that the congressman had ‘sexual fantasies’ and ‘wet dreams’ about her.
Texas Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold used $85,000 of taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment case filed by his former female spokeswoman
![Rep. Blake Farenthold wouldn't confirm that the settlement in question belonged to the case from his office when Politico asked him about it Friday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/01/19/46E3036100000578-5137471-image-a-10_1512157641973.jpg)
Rep. Blake Farenthold wouldn’t confirm that the settlement in question belonged to the case from his office when Politico asked him about it Friday
Greene revealed in the legal complaint that the congressman ‘regularly drank to excess, and because of his tendency to flirt, the staffers who accompanied him to Capitol Hill functions would joke they had to be on “red head patrol to keep him out of trouble.'”
‘On one occasion, prior to February 2014, during a staff meeting at which [Greene] was in attendance, Farenthold disclosed that a female lobbyist had propositioned him for a “threesome,”‘ the complaint read.
On another occasion, Haueter had complained about Greene’s shirt claiming it was ‘transparent and showed [Greene’s] nipples.’
In turn, ‘Farenthold told [another woman staffer] that [Greene] could show her nipples whenever she wanted to,’ the complaint alleged.
In the lawsuit, Greene said Farenthold refused to meet with her one-on-one, which would put a female staffer at a professional disadvantage.
When Greene complained in June 2014 about Haueter’s behavior she was ‘marginalized and undermined’ by Farenthold, Politico said, and then fired several weeks later.
That was the catalyst for the lawsuit Greene filed in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, alleging gender discrimination, sexual harassment and said Farenthold created a hostile work environment.
The suit was later dropped when both parties reached a settlement, Politico said.
Rep. Gregg Harper, a Republican from Mississippi, who chairs the House Administration Committee, told lawmakers Friday morning in a closed-door meeting that only one House office in the past five years had used an Office of Compliance account to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit, Politico discovered.
That settlement totaled $84,000.
Neither the congressman nor Greene’s lawyer would confirm that that $84,000 referenced by Harper was indeed the ex-aide’s settlement.
‘While I 100 per cent support more transparency with respect to claims against members of Congress, I can neither confirm nor deny that settlement involved my office as the Congressional Accountability Act prohibits me from answering that question,’ Farenthold said.
Greene’s lawyer, Les Alderman of Alderman, Devorsetz & Hora PLLC, also refused to tell Politico if that settlement corresponded to Greene.
Politico’s Rachael Bade put two and two together after receiving a copy of a statement that Greene and Farenthold prepared at the time of the settlement, but was never released.
‘[A]fter it became clear that further litigating this case would come at great expense to all involved – including the taxpayers – the parties engaged in mediation with a court-appointed mediator,’ the statement read. ‘After extensive discussion and consideration, the parties jointly agreed to accept the solution proposed by the mediator.’
‘The parties believe that the mediator’s solution saves the parties, and the taxpayers, significant sums that would be expended in further discovery and/or trial,’ it continued.
The statement also tried to distance Farenthold from the allegations saying that the congressman ‘disagrees strongly’ with Greene’s assertions and ‘adamantly denies that he engaged in any wrongdoing.’
The document also said that ‘both parties deny all liability.’
It also confirmed that Farenthold and Greene signed a confidentiality agreement.