The House Ethics Committee was contacted last week by a former aide to GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, who accused the lawmaker and his chief of staff of pressuring her to perform campaign-related tasks, a new report says.
Farenthold’s former communications director Elizabeth Peace told the committee that she was asked, and at one point yelled at, to assist with campaign-related projects, a source told CNN Friday. She was not paid for performing these duties and had not volunteered to work on the congressional campaign.
Peace, who worked for Farenthold from May 2015 to March 2017, claimed she was told to respond to media inquiries related to Farenthold’s 2016 re-election campaign and was also instructed to create flyers. The requests were occasionally sent to her official House email address. House rules generally bar Capitol Hill staffers from using official resources for campaigns or political purposes.
Furthermore, she was sometimes asked to complete the tasks during standard work hours while she was at Farenthold’s office on Capitol Hill. She also said she sometimes used her House computer or laptop to perform the tasks.
Peace, according to the report, told lawyers she had attempted to vocalize her concerns with the requests amid pressure from Farenthold’s chief of staff.
Farenthold’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Washington Examiner seeking comment on this report.
On Thursday, the committee announced it would be expanding its investigation of Farenthold, who already was under scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct.
The panel announced Thursday a unanimous decision had been made to expand the jurisdiction of the investigative subcommittee to also investigate “allegations that Representative Farenthold’s congressional staff may have House resources, including staff time, to benefit his congressional campaigns,” and allegations that Farenthold, or someone acting on his behalf, “may have required members of his congressional staff to work on his congressional campaigns.”
The committee is also examining “allegations that Representative Farenthold may have made false statements or omissions in his testimony to the Committee.”
The panel’s subcommittee first launched their investigation on Dec. 7 following allegations of sexual harassment from a former female employee, who received an $84,000 payout over her claim. Then, an ex-senior aide to Farenthold contacted the House Ethics Committee, accusing the Farenthold of promoting a hostile work environment and for making sexually graphic comments.
Several other members of Congress, including Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., have recently been forced to resign from their posts due to allegations of sexual misconduct.
Farenthold will not seek re-election next year.
