Jackie Speier was a 23-year-old congressional staffer excited about her new job on Capitol Hill when her chief of staff got her alone in a room. The 50-year-old grabbed her face and stuck his tongue down her throat.
Now, four and a half decades later, the Peninsula congresswoman is leading the charge in Congress to clean up what she calls a culture of sexual harassment in the Capitol.
.. “I’m embarrassed to say it, but I think Congress has been an enabler of sexual harassers for a long time,” Speier, a Democrat who represents San Mateo County, said in an interview this week.
.. Speier is now the lead sponsor of a bill that would reform the Office of Compliance, the obscure congressional office that investigates — and, activists say, often covers up — sexual harassment.
.. The office “was really created to protect the harassers,” Speier said.
.. Her legislation would shake that up, prohibiting nondisclosure agreements as a requirement to start an investigation
.. The bill, which was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, has received bipartisan support.
.. “It does seem like it’s an Animal House up there right now — it’s disgusting.”
.. But Speier said that she knows that national attention can be fickle, and thinks that she and other advocates may have a limited window to pass reforms while the focus is on sexual harassment.
.. Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles newscaster, said she decided to publicly accuse Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, of harassing and groping her after interviewing Speier and hearing her story. Tweeden wrote in an article that she came forward because she wanted to have the same effect on other victims of harassment “that Congresswoman Jackie Speier had on me.”
.. Speier has said she knows of two current members of Congress, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, who have been accused of sexual harassment. Neither of those is Franken or Rep. John Conyers
When can an NDA be legally broken?
There are many reasons that a contract can be void or voidable. Wikipedia will give you a good rundown. The reasons which apply to contracts generally will apply to NDAs specifically. This answer focuses on non-disclosure agreements.
Various legal authorities and courts have found contracts to be void in the following circumstances:
1. Crime
2. Torts
3. Public safety
4. Public Health
5. Matters of substantial public concernThe Model Penal Code prohibits what it calls compounding. The crime involves accepting payment in exchange for not reporting a crime.
Void the Non-Disclosure Agreements That Conceal Congressional Misconduct
They serve no legitimate purpose and function to protect wrongdoers.
..But this is why the last clause of Tapper’s tweet is the most important: so their survivors can talk if they wish.
There is no legal or policy reason to refrain from legislation that would out the lawmakers involved in misconduct settlements — regardless of the type of misconduct (I wouldn’t limit it to sexual episodes).
to the extent that these existing non-disclosure arrangements guarantee confidentiality, it ought to be up to the victim whether or not to remain anonymous.
.. I also thought complaints about the shroud under which the Trans-Pacific trade pact was being negotiated were bogus. If agreements could not be negotiated confidentially, many if not most of them would not happen. As long as the final agreement is available to be examined, there is no public “right to know” the negotiating positions of governments.
.. Private citizens do not get to withhold information from the government on the ground that it was provided under a non-disclosure agreement.
.. So why should the government, in a matter not involving national security or public safety, be able to withhold information about the actions of public officials from the public those officials like to tell us they “serve”?
.. Specifically, the FBI had evidence of crimes by Rosatom’s American subsidiary, the timely disclosure of which would have made it politically impossible for the Obama administration to approve Rosatom’s acquisition of Uranium One’s U.S. uranium-mining rights. Yet when Congress sought to look into this matter, it emerged that government’s informant witness had been induced by the FBI and Justice Department to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Reportedly, he was threatened with retaliation under this NDA if he shared what he knew with congressional committees.
.. Secrecy in government has its place — a very important place when it comes to intelligence that keeps the nation safe and promotes the rule of law. But the need for secrecy in some government operations is the smokescreen under which public officials often conceal government behavior that is embarrassing, incompetent, corrupt, reckless, dangerous, illegal, or even criminal. Particularly when a matter is outside the realm of national security or law enforcement, and when it involves the behavior of public officials, there should be a strong presumption against confidentiality.
Jake Tapper: Will Congress Void NDAs for Sexual Misconduit
I wonder if any member of Congress will introduce legislation to attempt to render null and void the NDAs from sexual misconduct settlements with members of Congress, so their survivors can talk if they wish.
A NDA doesn’t cover a criminal act, members of Congress need to understand Sexual Assault, is a crime and not protected by a NDA. Congressman threatening, bribing, forcing staff to provide sexual anything, are criminals
Why are tax payers dollars going to settle these sexual misconduct cases in the first place? As long as they are using tax payer dollars, “We the People” are entitled to know who the perps are.
.. I wonder if any member of Congress will ever be asked about Dennis Hastert? How about Mike Pence? Did he know?.. I’m a lawyer and think that NDAs for sexual harrassment or assault should be void on their face... The crux of the “NDA” is this: the hierarchy of power where men dominate at the top is thus maintained by these agreements. The gauntlet that these women are forced through is done precisely to discourage women (and men) from coming forward.#ENOUGH.. Require lobbyists (& registered foreign agents) to wear bodycams whenever they meet Members or their staff, post vid online. Also, to repeat what I said earlier, NDAs can always be subpoenaed by a grand jury or (more to the point) a congressional committee... Trump just said tonight all the lawsuits & sexual harassment info should be released and made public.. How about voiding all NDA’s that conceal crimes of violence like sexual assault??.. NDA’s, like other contracts, can be found null and void for a number of reasons including public health, public safety, and ‘matters of substantial public concern’. All of which might apply to these cases.
