Congress

Secret Conyers Settlement Raises New Questions on Capitol Hill

The spotlight was already on a lack of accountability in how Congress handles sexual harassment claims when a newly reported accusation against Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., raised more questions Tuesday, NBC News reported.

The settlement reached between Conyers and a former staffer from his office came outside the scope of Capitol Hill's official reporting mechanism, using taxpayer dollars from the congressman's discretionary fund. It's now under a House Ethics Committee investigation.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., has been pushing to reform the Office of Compliance's harassment reporting system and said Conyers' way of reporting provides even less oversight.

Speier and other members of Congress have introduced a bill, the Me Too Congress Act, which would give victims more rights through the process. But it wouldn't apply to cases like Conyers'.

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