CURIOUS, GEORGE: Another day, another scandal for this Republican punchline
Representative George Santos is not, as far as we know, in a contest to see who can rack up the most scandals in the shortest time in Congress, but he’s winning anyway.
Santos has just been hit with a police report and ethics complaint, alleging that he not only sexually harassed a staffer, but also failed to document his employment properly, resulting in no pay for the man’s work.
Derek Myers says Santos reduced his employment to a period as an unpaid volunteer by putting him to work without first having his employment documentation processed, in violation of House ethics rules.
The newly-sworn-in Congressman, he says, told him that he’d be wearing the title of ‘volunteer’ for a few days while waiting for paperwork, then fired him — or rather, rescinded an offer of employment — without that happening, resulting in several days of work with no pay.
Further, Myers alleges that during those few days, Santos sexually harassed him, asking if he had a Grindr account, and putting his hand on the staffer’s leg, moving it up to his groin, and pressuring him to join the Congressman at a bar or his home.
Myers says a few days later Santos terminated his employment, laying this all out in a letter to the House Ethics Committee and a newly-filed report with the Capitol Police.
His background in journalism, he suggests, may have been an issue for Santos, who called him into his office to question him about this before firing him, but as a journalist, Myers also tends toward transparency, and tweeted a copy of his letter. In part, he says:
“I proceeded to move forward with the discussion about the mail, but the Congressman stopped me by placing his hand on my left leg, near my knee and saying “Hey buddy, we’re going to karaoke tonight. Would you like to go?” I kindly declined…the Congressman proceeded to take his hand and move it down my leg into my inner thigh and proceeded to touch my groin.”
You can see Meyers’ 4-tweet thread about the matter at the end of this story, including his declaration that the matter “will not be litigated on social media,” and that his purpose in sharing is for transparency.
As for Santos, he issued a response of sorts, saying that he fired the staffer for being ‘evasive’ about his work history, and after he learned of charges Myers faced in Ohio over publication of court transcripts he’d received from a source, an issue in which First Amendment advocacy groups defended him, according to Semafor.
Santos said he was contacted for comment after a conversation between him and Myers was recorded and reported on publicly, alerting him to Myers’ journalistic tendencies. Myers says Santos was questioning him about “matters that had already been disclosed” in the hiring process.
See his tweets below:
As stated in the filings, my complaint pertains to violations of House Ethics in which I was an unpaid volunteer performing staff duties with the promise of employment and compensation, only to be released after several days of work without compensation.
— Derek Myers (@DerekMyers) February 3, 2023
These matters will not be litigated on social media or through news media. They are serious offenses and the evidence and facts will speak for themselves if the committee takes up the matter. This tweet is being made public in light of transparency. pic.twitter.com/oSs4F3xyqc
— Derek Myers (@DerekMyers) February 3, 2023
