Dirty old congressmen

When it comes to responding to staffers’ sexual harassment complaints, the U.S. Congress is a climate every bit as hostile and secretive as the Weinstein Co. Only in this case, payouts come straight out of taxpayers’ pockets. On Monday, BuzzFeed broke open the vault, publishing details of complaints against Rep. John Conyers, the House’s longest-serving member.

In three signed affidavits, former staff members of the Michigan Democrat claimed their boss serially and crassly propositioned female staff, touched them and more. A fourth former staffer, who says she was fired for refusing Conyers’ advances, got a $27,000 settlement for her troubles.

Outrage atop outrage: The only reason the public is learning of the lechery is because someone broke the rules and leaked these documents.

All of which underlines how disgustingly skewed Congress is when it comes to protecting staff members, many of whom are young women.

A victim has just 180 days after an incident to file a complaint, and then must endure a 30-day mandatory “counseling” period, which often has the end result of discouraging any action.

After that, the complainant has 15 days to decide whether to enter mediation with Congress’ compliance office. This is followed by another 30 day “cooling-off” period.

If, after jumping through all these hoops, the complainant rejects a settlement and goes to court, she’s on her own — while the government covers the alleged harasser’s legal costs.

And all complainants must sign ironclad nondisclosure agreements from the moment they file a report, blocking them from speaking out at all.

A black-box congressional fund, largely unknown to the public until recent days, has distributed more than $15 million in discrimination and harassment settlement cash over the last 20 years. The American people have no clue how many elected officials have been implicated — or how many staffers have been preyed upon.

In Conyers’ case, the settlement cash came from another taxpayer-funded source: His own office budget. How many of his colleagues did the same? Damned if your government will tell you.

Open up all the files. Release the accusers from their nondisclosure agreements. Ban them going forward. And start protecting women from the predators of Congress. Right away.