California lawmaker resigns after bathroom sex assault claim
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California Assemblyman Matt Dababneh announced Friday that he’s resigning amid an investigation into a lobbyist’s allegation he sexually assaulted her in a bathroom last year.
Dababneh again denied the allegation in his resignation letter, but said he no longer believes he can effectively serve his Los Angeles district. He is the second Democratic California lawmaker to step down following allegations of sexual misconduct. He said he’ll cooperate with an ongoing Assembly investigation into the claim.
“Beyond the salacious headlines, I am confident that the completed investigation will bring to light and into focus the significant and persuasive evidence of my innocence,” Dababneh wrote.
Pamela Lopez, the lobbyist, said his resignation means little without an apology.
“He’s not attempting to atone for his behavior,” Lopez told The Associated Press.
Lopez alleged at a Monday news conference Dababneh pushed her into a single-stall bathroom during a Las Vegas social event in 2016 and masturbated in front of her while asking her to touch him. She also outlined the alleged incident in a letter to the Assembly committee tasked with handling misconduct complaints.
That committee will continue its investigation into the allegation despite Dababneh’s pending resignation, effective Jan. 1. Democratic Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, also of Los Angeles, resigned in November after multiple women accused him of kissing or groping them without consent.
Nearly 150 women launched a reckoning of sorts in California’s Capitol when they published an Oct. 17 letter alleging “pervasive” sexual harassment in the Legislature amid a national anti-harassment movement that’s brought down once-powerful figures in entertainment, media and politics.
Without Dababneh and Bocanegra, Democrats will no longer have a twothirds supermajority in the Assembly, which allows them to raise taxes, suspend legislative rules and pass emergency legislation without Republican votes.
The Senate, meanwhile, is investigating Democratic Sen. Tony Mendoza for accusations of inappropriate contact with several young women who worked for him, including one who said she was invited to his home.
He denies knowingly acting inappropriately. If he were to leave office, Democrats would lose their Senate supermajority as well.
Dababneh, 36 and not married, is a former aide to U.S. Rep Brad Sherman.