APNewsBreak: Pre-election lawsuit threat led to Iowa payout by GOP Governor (2/28/19)
By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa — Feb 28, 2019 2:51 PM ET
The state of Iowa accelerated an unprecedented $4.15 million settlement with two sexual harassment victims after a lawyer for one of them threatened a lawsuit days before the election that would dig into Gov. Kim Reynolds' longtime association with the agency director who harassed them, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.
Attorney Paige Fiedler backed off her plan to file the lawsuit after a state lawyer told her that he "just got authority this morning" from the governor's administration to settle the case, the emails show.
The exchange came five days before the Nov. 6 midterm election, which featured a close race between the Republican governor and a Democratic challenger. Reynolds won the election.
Within weeks, her administration backed the $4.15 million payout to two subordinates of former Iowa Finance Authority Director Dave Jamison, a Reynolds ally who had sexually harassed the women for years…
Fiedler warned in the letter that without a settlement, she would conduct "extensive discovery" into Reynolds' friendship with Jamison dating to when they were county officials in the 1990s. Reynolds called Jamison a family friend whom she knew as a heavy-drinking partier with an odd sense of humor but has denied knowledge of his misconduct. The discovery process includes depositions in which witnesses are questioned under oath and demands for documents...
Local TV interview (KCCI-TV) with newly elected Democratic Auditor Rob Sands who plans to look into the issue