Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) spoke with news outlets on Tuesday revealing that at least two currently serving US congressmen were known sexual harassers, which included groping on the part of the two men and their victims. These congressmen are protected by their office in that they will likely reach a settlement between themselves and their victim and that settlement will be paid for—by us. Rep. Speier, appearing with Chuck Todd on MSNBC had this exchange:
Rep. Speier: We do know there is about $15 million that has been paid out by the house on behalf of harassers in the last ten to 15 years.
Todd: 15 million has been paid out over sexual harassment claims. Obviously more than one member of congress. Do you know how many over time that is? I know some are former members by now.
Rep. Speier: I don't know how many members that entails.
Rep. Speier is trying to overhaul the process being used by Congress, in the hopes of expediting the process as well as protecting the people victimized in these cases. And let’s all be clear, those monies that we as tax payers have spent has likely been a 99.9 percent bipartisan effort.
Here’s a short bit of Rep. Speier’s press conference announcement and below the fold you can watch the interview on MSNBC.