It’s been just a little over a month since Olympic figure skater and swimsuit model George Santos was sworn into Congress, and he’s already been accused of sexual harassment, as well as slave labor.
In a letter sent to the House Committee on Ethics and posted to Twitter on Friday, former journalist Derek Myers alleged that the congressman propositioned and groped him while he was working in his office in January.
According to Myers, Santos hired him as a “legislative correspondence” and “staff assistant” after a 15-minute interview on January 23, after which he filled out his onboarding paperwork and was told to come into work the next day. When he came in, he was shown to his desk, told what his duties would be … and was also told that he’d work in the office under the title of “volunteer” until his paperwork was processed through “the payroll department.”
The day after that, he says, was when Santos came onto him.
On Wednesday, January 25, I was alone with the Congressman in his personal office going over mail correspondence from constituents and making my recommendations for which letters we should respond. The Congressman earlier in the day had asked me if I had a “Grindr” profile, which is widely-known as an LGBTQ+ social networking app, more commonly used for sexual intercourse. The Congressman shared with me that he, himself had a profile.
While in his personal office reviewing the mail, he called me “buddy” and insisted I sit next to him on a small sofa. I proceeded to move forward with the discussion about the mail, but the Congressman stopped me by placing his hand on my left leg, near my knee and saying, “Hey buddy, we’re going to karaoke tonight. Would you like to go?” I kindly declined the invitation by telling the Congressman I was not a fan of clubs and bars and that I was not a good singer. The Congressman proceeded to take his hand and move it down my leg into my inner-thigh and proceeded to touch my groin.
He proceeded to look at me and say, “My husband is out of town tonight if you want to come over” and went on to tell me where the Congressman lived. I quickly pushed the Congressman’s hand away and grabbed the mail from the table and proceeded to discuss the topic of constituent correspondence. Shortly thereafter, I left the personal office and returned to my desk.
Five days later, Myers says, he was called into Santos’s office again, this time to discuss $2 thrift store ties, Columbian Botox, and a past incident from his career as a journalist. While he was running a small newspaper in Ohio, Myers covered the Pike County Massacre trial, for which the presiding judge had decided to allow witnesses to “opt out” of being recorded by the news media while still allowing non-journalists to record anything they like. Myers published an audio recording of the testimony given to him by someone who was allowed to record it, and subsequently arrested and charged with illegal wiretapping.
Myers actually recorded this conversation himself, the audio of which was published by Talking Points Memo on Thursday.
The next day, Myers was told the job offer was being rescinded, after he had already worked there a week for free. He would later learn that the whole “volunteer until payroll processes your paperwork” thing was not just nonsense but an actual ethics violation, and he’s asking that the House Committee on Ethics look into this as well as his sexual harassment complaint. He says that he has also filed a report about the harassment with the Capitol Police.
The awkward thing for Santos is that he is now the boy who cried wolf. Given the rest of his bizarre behavior, it’s entirely believable that he propositioned this guy for sexy karaoke times, but if by some chance he did not actually do this, who would believe anything he says?
[Newsweek]
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