Exposing the Corruption of the "Family Values" Party
Jim Friedrich was an analyst working for Iowa Senate Republicans on oversight issues until he resigned in 2017 after his sexual harassment cost taxpayers $2.2 million. In 2013, Kirsten Anderson, at the time a Republican Caucus communications director, submitted a memo about how sexual harassment created a hostile workplace. She was fired seven hours after she submitted the memo.
Bill Schuette was the Congressional representative for District 10 for three terms before he ran for US Senate and lost. He served two years in the Michigan Senate before becoming the Attorney General of Michigan from 2011 to 2018 and ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor against Gretchen Whitmer in 2018. He’s a fairly typical conservative Republican, opposing gay marriage, abortion, legalization of marijuana, and the Affordable Care Act.
He also denigrates professional women while they are working as shown in this video where he sexually harasses a camera operator insinuating she would want to do more than just film him. You can judge for yourself if women can expect to be treated as his professional equal. In his defense, Schuette said the video was heavily edited. The Detroit News obtained the entire clip and verified the accuracy of the clip, refuting his defense.
John Peterson was a Republican politician in Pennsylvania serving eight years in local government before being elected to the state House in 1977, then to the state Senate in 1985, and then the US Congress in 1997 where he served until 2009. He was accused of sexual harassment by a page when he was in the state Senate. She filed a complaint alleging he grabbed her breast in the elevator. The Pennsylvania Senate’s investigator concluded that it probably happened, but was impossible to prove. In addition, three women said he tried to kiss them at work and three additional women asked for and got transfers because he made them uncomfortable at work. Those six cases were not investigated.
Dick Armey was a U.S. Representative from Texas for eighteen years and House Majority Leader for the last eight. He was Newt Gingrich’s right arm and enforcer. Before Congress, he was an economics professor where three women who were students allege inappropriate conduct. One was so disturbed she left school until another professor offered to supervisor her program and keep her from Armey.
Dan Burton began his career as a state senator in Indiana before being elected to Congress. He was known for philandering and sexual harassment. “None of the [female] staff wanted to be caught in a hall with him,” recalls retired Indiana legislator Hurley Goodall, a Democrat who served with Burton until 1983, when Burton left for Washington.
Burton claimed to be a family values Republican and was vocally prudish in condemnation of Clinton and Bob Packwood, saying “No one, regardless of what party they serve, no one, regardless of what branch of government they serve, should be allowed to get away with these alleged sexual improprieties”.
However, he was accused of sexually assaulting a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood, putting his hands up her skirt. “I was there maybe thirty seconds and he had his hands up my skirt so fast I didn’t even know what was coming.” This came from The Flynt Report which had several other allegations as well, but the Flyn
Angela Wozniak was elected to the New York Assembly, replacing Dennis Gabryszak, a Democrat who was accused of sexual harassment. She promised change. However, she was similarly accused less than a year into her term. Elias Farah worked for her. They had a consensual affair, but when he wanted to end it, she coerced into continuing, he claimed. She then banned him from working in the district office and Wozniak disparaged him.
“The ethics committee unanimously agrees that Assembly Member Wozniak retaliated against her director of legislation by tarnishing his reputation to the person who had recommended him, and through her counsel identifying him by name to the press as the complaining party, as well as making other statements to the press that are reasonably likely to harm the director of legislation’s reputation in express violation of the ethics committee’s explicit notice to refrain from any breach of confidentiality,” the ethics committee wrote.
Politico: Wozniak admonished over affair with staffer
Greg Ball was a New York state senator. He was accused in 2016 of banging a woman’s head against a post while trying to force her to perform oral sex. The woman held back from reporting for several months, claiming she feared Ball and was too embarrassed. A few days after she gave the report she said she did not want to press charges.
The police report gives a full, and frightening account of her experience. Ball has retained an attorney to threaten her. He called it politically motivated, but it was never made public during the election.
He has a history. An ex-girlfriend took out an order of protection when they broke up. Another woman claimed he groped her. A woman wrote a letter accusing him of sexual harassment, but that accusation was found to be not credible.
Steve McLaughlin is currently the elected County Executive of Rensselaer County, New York. When he was in the New York State Assembly he was censured for sexual harassment after asking an Assembly employee for nude photos.
Walter S. Smith was a federal judge in Waco, Texas. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan and served 32 years before resigning to evade accountability. While he didn’t run into trouble until 2015, he sexually harassed and groped a woman in 1998 and it was her complaint that was featured, though there were several complaints. This is not unusual, in a study by CNN found less than 1% of complaints were referred to a special committee for investigation. In her case, a lawyer filed a complaint and raised a stink.
In 2017, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts created a committee to investigate sexual harassment in the federal judiciary. In 2015, Smith had been reprimanded for sexual harassment, ordered him to attended sexual harassment training, and told him he could not hear any new cases for a year. However, a federal judicial conduct committee told the 5th Circuit they need to investigate again because it was alleged this was a pattern of behavior. As soon as that happened, he resigned, which saved his pension and ended the investigation.
Mike May was the House Minority Leader in Colorado. In 2010, he was sued by four employees of one of the hotels he owned alleging they were sexually harassed and when they made a complaint, he retaliated against them.
One of the complainants worked the front desk. She complained to Mr. May about sexual harassment by other employees. He then invited her for a drink, told her she was doing a great job, and would be promoted. But, she declined the drink. He went on reminding her “who signs your paycheck.” When she refused to sleep with him she was denied the promotion they had discussed. May settled her lawsuit. He claims that was because his insurance company thought it was cheaper.