The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Say It Ain’t So, Alcee!

Posted on | June 23, 2011 | 8 Comments

Rep. Alcee Hastings, the Florida Democrat who was elected to Congress after being impeached for bribery as a federal judge, has been accused of sexual harassment:

A congressional ethics panel is investigating allegations that Florida Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings sexually harassed a member of his staff, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation of Mr. Hastings is being conducted by the Office of Congressional Ethics, the House’s independent ethics investigative arm, and it is at a preliminary stage.
It began at least a month ago after Judicial Watch, a conservative group, filed a lawsuit as the legal counsel for Winsome Packer, a staffer on a commission Mr. Hastings headed. She alleged that she had been sexually harassed by the congressman and that he retaliated when she tried to report it.
At the time, Mr. Hastings was chairman of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a group set up in the 1970s to monitor a Cold-War era pact. Ms. Packer, a Republican, also worked for the commission. . . .
In her suit, Ms. Packer made a number of allegations about events she said occurred between January 2008 and Feb. 2010. The congressman pressured Ms. Packer to allow him to stay with her during visits to Vienna, where she was based, and made inappropriate remarks, the suit alleged. In one instance, the suit said Mr. Hastings asked her “what kind of underwear are you wearing” in front of others.

The 36-page lawsuit is available in PDF form. Announcing the lawsuit in March, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said: “For two years Hastings subjected Ms. Packer to a never-ending barrage of unwanted sexual advances. And when Ms. Packer tried, time and again, to put a stop to it, he resorted to threats and intimidation to force her compliance.”

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air has a female source who says the congressman “has always behaved in a very professional fashion” around her. The Alcee Hastings bribery case is featured on pp. 17-20 of Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party.

Category: Congress, Democrats, Scandal, Sex

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