In 2014 Republican Blake Farenthold settled a sexual harassment case out of court for $84,000. The Representative from Texas didn’t use his own money to pay the woman to keep quiet; he used yours; and it is probably legal.

Taxpayers were never informed about a secret Treasury fund designed to protect lawmakers from workplace lawsuits. ‘Isn’t that special?’

Let me get this straight; we, the people, paid for the freedom and extended career of an alleged sexual predator. This proves that our government is far more corrupt than previously believed.

How many more slush funds is congress hiding from the American people? We know that congressmen protect each other. They constantly attempt to cover up crimes and indiscretions committed by their constituents. Today they continue to hide the truth about their illegitimate president and his many, many crimes and unwanted sexual assaults. They continue to allow him to operate and increase his business relationships with foreign nations which is a violation of the federal ethics laws. In private many Republicans admit that Trump is mentally incompetent and a danger to America, but in public they defend him.

Now for the sad part of this story. It is highly unlikely Farenthold will ever receive punishment. But that isn’t preventing the Ethics Committee from beginning an investigation.

“A nice change of pace to see the Ethics Committee asserting its jurisdiction,” Meredith McGehee, executive director of Issue One, a nonprofit focused on government ethics, wrote in an email. “Usually they are looking for ways to avoid taking on hard questions, hoping the member leaves or burying the allegations until the ‘heat’ goes away.”

Maybe this and other instances will never happen again, and the funds placed back in the Treasury. Although this is the first time the fund was used for the defense of a sexual harassment charge, it has been used to settle ‘other problems.’ For instance; John Cornyn has used the fund to settle “complaints” in the past.

A final observation; the base salary for a member of congress is $174,000 per year. All but two of the 535 Representatives and Senators filed tax returns claiming income of more than one-million dollars. Where does this money come from, and how many “special” funds exist with the theft of taxpayer dollars?

Lots to think about when we go to the polls in less than a year.

Please re-post; thank you.

Op-ed by James Turnage

SOURCE

Photo courtesy of Robert Cutts

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