The director of Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie’s $5.4 trillion mortgage portfolio, revealed in May he learned absolutely nothing from the 2008 crash when he defended growing the group’s lines of business in order to encourage more lending to low-income borrowers.
Later, in July, a federal court ruled that the FHFA itself was unconstitutional, arguing that the agency, which was created in 2008 during the collapse, defies the Constitution because it does not answer to the chief executive.
Now, Mel Watt has bigger problems on his hands, and one that’s sure to shine a light on his unconstitutional organization: He has been accused of sexual harassment.
“A Federal Housing Finance Agency staffer accused the FHFA director of repeatedly making inappropriate sexual advances when she tried to discuss career and salary concerns,” Politico reported Friday.
The report added, “In a separate encounter, Watt asked about a tattoo on her ankle, saying, ‘If I kissed that one would it lead to more?’”
Now here’s something curious: The Hollywood Reporter also reported Friday that CBS CEO Les Moonves will soon be accused of sexual misconduct, including unwanted touching and kissing.
The Politico and Hollywood Reporter stories seem unconnected, but they actually point to what seems like a broader theme: That the #MeToo movement, which seeks to shine a light on systemic sexism and sexual harassment, has fallen disproportionately hard on Democratic lawmakers and other left-wing luminaries.
Watt, an Obama appointee, served in the House for 21 years as a Democrat. Moonves hasn’t made a political donation since the 1990s, but he is described nonetheless by the New York Times magazine as a “lifelong Democrat and a friend of Bill Clinton’s.”
And they’ve both been accused of sexual misconduct, which is starting to feel like par for the course regarding the political affiliations of men wrapped up in #MeToo scandals.
This isn’t to say the Right has gone unscathed by the anti-abuse campaign. On the contrary, we can credit #MeToo for outing former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, former member of the Rhode Island Senate Nick Kettle, and former Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. #MeToo also brought forth accusations against notable right-wingers like Sylvester Stallone, Eric Bolling, and Fox News favorite Scott Baio (I’d add Bill O’Reilly and President Trump to this list, but the respective allegations against them predate #MeToo).
Rather, it’s to say only that #MeToo has hit the Left especially hard.
In media, for example, there have been serious allegations of misconduct brought against Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, and Charlie Rose. In the entertainment industry, big-shot producers and Democratic donors like Harvey Weinstein and Russell Simmons have both been accused of rape. Then there are the allegations against actor Kevin Spacey and director Oliver Stone. In politics, there’s former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Democratic campaign consultant Clay Johnson, Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., former Center for American Progress operative Benton Strong, and former Hillary Clinton adviser Burns Strider. There’s more, but I’ll keep this list succinct for brevity’s sake.
Be careful to avoid the foolish conclusion that one side is somehow more noble or innocent than the other because these numbers are lopsided. Sexual harassment and abuse are clearly a bipartisan cancer. Still, there’s something undeniably curious about the fact that the #MeToo accusations against the Left currently outweigh accusations against the Right.
