Indiana gov calls for AG to resign over alleged groping
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and the two GOP Statehouse leaders on Thursday called for Republican Attorney General Curtis Hill to resign amid what they called credible claims that Hill drunkenly groped four women, including a lawmaker, at an Indianapolis bar.
“Four women had the courage to step forward to report sexual harassment by the Indiana attorney general,” the Republican governor said in a statement on Thursday night. “The findings of the recent legislative report are disturbing and, at a minimum, show a violation of the state’s zero tolerance sexual harassment policy.”
He said he agrees with GOP Senate leader David Long and Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma that Hill should resign and supports “a thorough investigation by the state’s inspector general.”
Long and Bosma issued a joint statement Thursday evening, saying: “We believe that the women who came forward with accounts of inappropriate behavior by Attorney General Curtis Hill in the early hours of March 15, 2018, are telling the truth regardless of the attorney general’s denial of these allegations.”
A spokeswoman for Hill did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Thursday evening.
The call from high- level Republicans for Hill to resign comes after Democrats ratcheted up political pressure in an election year where female voters could make a big difference at the polls. Over the past week, Democrats have harshly criticized what they characterize as a lackluster Republican response to the allegations against Hill. A Statehouse rally calling for Hill’s resignation was being planned for Saturday.
Hill has denied the groping allegations, which were lodged by the lawmaker and three legislative aides, and on Tuesday said he had no plans to step down. The accusations against him were included in a confidential legislative memo that was leaked this week to news outlets, including The Associated Press.
Earlier Thursday, many Republicans either declined, or were reluctant, to comment on Hill. On Tuesday, Bosma and Long had said they had “no further public comment on the matter” but announced that they were launching an investigation into the leak of a memo outlining the allegations against Hill.
The document, which includes details from interviews with six women, offers a picture of Hill carousing during a party at a bar in the early morning hours of March 15, shortly after this year’s legislative session came to a close.
The lawmaker said Hill was “very intoxicated” when he slid his hands down her back, put them under her clothes and grabbed her buttocks, according to the memo. She told him to “back off ” and walked away, but Hill again approached her, reached under her clothing and grabbed her again, according to the memo.