‘A More Aggressive and Robust Approach’
In the wake of two high profile resignations from male members of Congress who were accused of sexual misconduct and, in the case of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), assault, the House Ethics Committee issued a rare call for information about any known instances of sexual misconduct by members.
As the panel tasked with investigating and policing lawmakers’ behavior, the committee said in a new statement released Monday that it is committed to investigating sexual misconduct by members and making its findings public. “The Committee strongly encourages anyone who may have experienced sexual misconduct by a House Member or staffer, or who has knowledge of such conduct, to contact the Committee,” the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights or the Office of Employee Advocacy, the statement said.
In asking victims of alleged sexual misconduct by members to come forward, the panel also reaffirmed its commitment to protecting any victims or survivors who might share information with the ethics panel:
The greatest hurdle the Committee faces in evaluating allegations of sexual misconduct is in convincing the most vulnerable witnesses to share their stories. Accordingly, the Committee’s practice has been to release only the information that is necessary to hold Members accountable for misconduct and address public reporting that impacts the integrity of the House. The Committee does not release transcripts of its interviews or share the source of allegations. The Committee will continue to prioritize witness confidentiality and safety, so that those witnesses feel comfortable coming forward and providing the Committee the opportunity to hold wrongdoers accountable. Where the Committee finds evidence of sexual misconduct, it will continue to publicly release its findings and seek appropriate sanctions.
The statement comes after the recent resignations of Swalwell and Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX). Swalwell resigned from Congress and dropped his bid for governor of California after reports about his alleged misconduct surfaced last week, including allegations from multiple women who claimed Swalwell sexually assaulted them when they were drunk. Swalwell has vehemently denied the accusations.
Gonzalez recently acknowledged he had a sexual affair with a staffer who later died after she set herself on fire. Sexual relationships between staff and lawmakers have been against House rules since the #MeToo era. Both Democratic and Republican women in the House have called for the House Ethics Committee to expedite its handling and investigating of sexual misconduct allegations against members of Congress.
“If we have clear evidence, they’re out,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said. “I don’t even know that it needs to go to a vote of the House.”
The committee said it has “adopted a more aggressive and robust approach to allegations of sexual misconduct,” according to the Monday statement.
— Nicole LaFond
Trump Says His Energy Sec Is ‘Totally Wrong’
President Trump contradicted his own Department of Energy official, who over the weekend said that gas prices might not drop below $3 until next year.
“I don’t know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN on Sunday.
“But prices have likely peaked and they will start going down,” Wright continued. “Certainly, with a resolution of this conflict, you will see prices go down. Prices across the board on energy prices will go down.”
His attempt to put a cheerful spin on the price of oil wasn’t enough for the president, apparently.
“No, I think he’s wrong on that. Totally wrong,” Trump told The Hill on Monday, saying that he believes gas prices will plummet “as soon as this ends,” which appears to be a reference to Trump’s ongoing war with Iran.
There you have it, American consumer.
— Nicole LaFond
New Tariff Refund Portal Can Repay 63% of $166 Billion Owed
The new tariff refund portal — offering businesses a first chance to reclaim funds they were forced to pay for Trump’s blanket tariffs, which were blocked by the Supreme Court — went live Monday.
Designed and managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries portal, or CAPE, launched two months to the day from when SCOTUS struck down Trump’s emergency tariffs after finding the statute the president used to levy them did not give him that authority. Monday’s website launch marked phase one of the process to repay importers the $166 billion in now-illegal tariffs, plus interest. Phase one is limited to tariffs paid that have not been liquidated into the U.S. Treasury, or that are within 80 days of liquidation, CBP said in a press release.
TPM previously reported that fewer than 27,000 out of an eligible 330,000 importers had enrolled in the CAPE system as of late March, and that those importers represented some of the largest U.S. businesses, suggesting small businesses were being left behind. As of April 9, according to a court filing from CPB official Brandon Lord, the number of enrolled importers has more than doubled since late March to 56,497.
Groups like the American Association of Exporters and Importers described to TPM challenges smaller importers without in-house counsel and administrative capacity may face enrolling in a complex, multi-step refund process. To that end, the Liberty Justice Center — which represented some of the small businesses who sued over Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs — touted its Tariff Equity Refund Resource for America program, created to support small businesses in getting their money back from the U.S. government, in a press release Monday.
“We fought to stop unlawful tariffs, and now we’re making sure small businesses actually see that money returned,” Sara Albrecht, chair of the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement Monday.
Lord, the CBP official, said in a March court filing that the phase one refund process should cover 63% of the 53 million IEEPA import entries, representing more than $104.5 billion.
— Layla A. Jones
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What We Are Reading
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If you were a woman who had been sexually harassed by a member of Congress, would you trust the GOP majority to protect your privacy if you filed a report? This is theatre.
Anybody check Speaker Grindr’s crawlspace lately?
Maybe his Energy secretary is on the hot seat, but Labor is gone as of now.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving Trump’s Cabinet | AP News
Tulsi Gabbard, Brooke Rollins, Linda McMahon: call your offices, probably in that order.
I ALMOST want to laugh…who will populate this ‘ethics’ committee? After we get done with sexual abuse what will this panel go after NEXT??? Will we rope every member in?