Lawmakers talk harassment

Allegations raised against Trump, Clinton, congressmen

WASHINGTON — Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, went further Sunday than most of her Republican colleagues in expressing worry about the sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump, saying they were one of the reasons she did not vote for him.

“Those allegations remain very disturbing,” Collins said in an interview on ABC’s This Week. She noted that she did not support Trump in the 2016 campaign in part because of news reports about women accusing him of unwanted touching or kissing. Trump has denied those allegations, which include 12 women detailing incidents that occurred over many years.

With allegations emerging against officials from both political parties, few are willing to discuss harassment within their own party’s ranks.

Some of the concern involves sexual harassment claims against current and prospective members of Congress, leading to reconsideration of how such allegations are handled on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told CBS’ John Dickerson on Sunday that the nation is experiencing a “huge cultural shift” when it comes to addressing sexual harassment.

If Trump were running today, she said, “I bet he would not be elected.”

But when asked how this changed standard might apply to former Democratic President Bill Clinton, Speier was less candid. She said that Clinton’s accusers “were not treated as they should have been,” but did not go so far as to criticize Clinton.

Days earlier, fellow Democrat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told The New York Times that Clinton should have resigned during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Few other members of her party have taken that position.

Similarly, Republicans have dodged questions about the accusations against Trump.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said voters had made their judgment about the president.

“Whatever they had to say, people heard that, and they elected President Trump president of the United States,” he said.

Within Congress, many female members say sexual harassment is pervasive. Speier and others have described unnamed male members exposing themselves to staff members and groping women on the House floor. During a hearing Tuesday, Speier said she knows two members of Congress — Democrat and Republican — who have sexually harassed women but have not been subject to review.

But Speier and others say that the procedures for handling misconduct in Congress are in desperate need of an overhaul.

On Sunday, Speier called the congressional Office of Compliance “an enabler” when it comes to sexual harassment. Settlement payments in cases of workplace violations come out of a special U.S. Treasury fund, rather than from the accused member’s office.

“We have a system in place that allows for the harasser to go unchecked,” she said on Face the Nation.

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill requiring members and staff to undergo training to prevent sexual misconduct.