Another sex harasser resigns from the House of Representatives
Rep. Patrick Meehan is resigning from Congress to end the Ethics Committee’s investigation into allegations he sexually harassed a former staffer.
The Pennsylvania Republican intends to repay the $39,000 in taxpayer dollars used to settle the harassment case with the staffer within the next 30 days. He had already announced he would not run for re-election following the allegations.
Back in January, Meehan settled a sexual harassment complaint and announced he would not run for reelection.
The complaint by a former aide three decades younger than U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan came to light Jan. 20 in a New York Times report, citing unnamed people. The accuser’s lawyer, Alexis Ronickher, called the allegations “well-grounded” and a “serious sexual harassment claim.”
Meehan, 62, is a four-term congressman and former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia. The married father of three had described the woman in an interview as a “soul mate,” and acknowledged that he had lashed out when he discovered she had begun dating another man. But he contended he had done nothing wrong and had never sought a romantic relationship with her.
