Massie, MTG Urge Release Of Multimillion-Dollar 'Congressional Sexual Slush Fund List'

Thanks to the leadership of Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, pressure is growing to unmask the beneficiaries of more than $17 million in taxpayer-funded payments to settle harassment claims leveled against US Capitol officials and offices. In his latest move, a Massie social media post on Thursday prompted a chorus of support from from Marjorie Taylor Green along with former GOP House members. 

Washington Post)

"Congress has secretly paid out more than $17 million of your money to quietly settle charges of harassment (sexual and other forms) in Congressional offices," Massie posted on Thursday. "Don’t you think we should release the names of the Representatives? I do." 

Georgia Rep. Green quickly voiced her support, saying, "Yes. I want to release the congressional sexual slush fund list. Tax payers should have never had to pay for that." Former Rep. Mo Brooks jumped in, saying "Massie is spot on - taxpayer [money] must NEVER be used to SECRETLY bail out sexual (& other) harassers. A Capitol Hill harassing supervisor should foot the bill. THAT stops harassment!" Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz also boosted the idea, writing  "Taxpayers deserve to know.”

The controversial payouts are made by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Between 1997 and 2017 alone, the little-known office facilitated 260 settlements and more than $17 million in payouts. Given that number is more than seven years old, it's safe to say the real grand total is significantly higher. Despite its name, the office's payouts also encompass complaints from workers outside the House and Senate, including the Library of Congress and the Capitol police. 

This isn't the first time Massie has put a spotlight on the use of taxpayer money to settle harassment claims against members of Congress and their staffs. In June, the libertarian-minded Kentucky representative earnestly brought the topic up in a House Judiciary Committee hearing, as he questioned Federal Election Commission leader Trey Trainor: 

Massie pointed to the hypocrisy of Democrats' feigned outrage over Donald Trump using his own money to buy Stormy Daniels' silence about their alleged sexual encounter, while saying nothing about congressional offices' use of taxpayer money to brush sexual and other misconduct allegations under the rug.  

“Congress has paid over $17 million in hush money for sexual misconduct inside of the offices in these buildings...[I]t’s taxpayer money. And I do know not a single penny of it has been turned in as a campaign finance expense. Wouldn’t — I mean, is the FEC going to investigate the $17 million that the Congress has paid to settle, you know, behind closed doors, these sexual misconduct allegations?”

Earlier this month, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of using illegal drugs and paying underage women for sex, publicly daydreamed about taking office for just one day to singlehandedly reveal the names of everyone who's benefitted from the settlement payouts. 

With the federal government now $36 trillion in debt -- and poised to post a $3.5 trillion deficit in 2025 alone -- $17 million may not sound like much, but the use of borrowed/printed money to settle sexual and other abuse allegations on Capitol Hill is another symptom of a corrupt and fading empire.