Congresswoman, outspoken MeToo advocate, says she won’t quit
U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, an outspoken advocate for the #MeToo movement, has found herself in the awkward position of apologizing for not protecting female staffers in her Washington office who say they experienced violence, death threats and sexual harassment by her former chief of staff.
She dismissed calls Friday to step down. The Democrat has issued press releases calling for tougher harassment protections for congressional staff and was among those demanding that then-U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan resign amid allegations of misconduct with staff. She issued her own public mea culpa Thursday following newspaper reports she did not suspend or fire the chief of staff until three months after learning about allegations against him in 2016.
Esty said she regrets not moving along an internal investigation into the allegations, which revealed more widespread alleged abuse, and regrets providing “even the slightest assistance to this individual as he sought a new job.”
In advance of the news stories published by Hearst Connecticut Media and the Washington Post, Esty made it a point to call or meet with representatives of at least three grassroots Connecticut groups that have been allies of hers on issues affecting women.
“I felt that she wanted to let me know what the situation was as someone who is involved in women’s issues,” said Cindy Wolfe Boynton, president of CT Now, a group that has endorsed Esty in past elections. “She did say more than once during the telephone call how she felt that she really did handle the situation poorly and was extremely remorseful for that.”
Boynton said it seemed Esty was “doing her best to handle the situation” in her office, but the group wants to know more about what happened.
“As things stand now, I think there’s a lot more information about the case that needs to come out,” she said.
In her apology, Esty said she was “horrified and angry” to learn in 2016 that a former employee had been harassed and physically harmed, allegedly by former chief of staff Tony Baker. She said she demanded Baker receive counselling.