Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) used taxpayer funds to end a dispute with his communications director in 2014.
Rep. Blake Farenthold used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by his former spokesman — the only known sitting member of Congress to have used a little-known congressional account to pay an accuser, sources told POLITICO.
Lauren Greene, the Texas Republican’s former communications director, sued her boss in December 2014 over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
Greene claimed in the lawsuit that another Farenthold aide told her the lawmaker had “sexual fantasies” and “wet dreams” about Greene. She also claimed that Farenthold “regularly drank to excess” and told her in February 2014 that he was “estranged from his wife and had not had sex with her in years.”
When she complained about comments Farenthold and a male staffer made to her, Greene said the congressman improperly fired her. She filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, but the case was later dropped after both parties reached a private settlement.
[contentcards url=”https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/01/blake-farenthold-taxpayer-funds-sexual-harassment-274458″ target=”_blank”]BREAKING/SCOOP: Meet the only sitting member of Congress who reached a sexual harassment settlement on the taxpayer dime using OOC-Treasury fund: Rep. Blake @Farenthold https://t.co/iDet2nuy57
— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) December 1, 2017