WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to defeat Republican Rep. Nancy Mays’ effort to shed more light on sexual misconduct allegations against members of Congress.
Mays, a conservative Republican running for governor of South Carolina, demanded a floor vote on his resolution directing the House Ethics Committee to make public all reports about allegations that congressional lawmakers and aides engaged in sexual misconduct or harassment.
But in a 357-65 vote, the House voted to refer the Mays resolution to a committee — a move that effectively killed it.
The Ethics Committee encouraged members to vote to refer the resolution. In a joint statement, the committee’s Republican and Democratic leaders argued that it could “chill victims’ cooperation and witness participation in ongoing and future investigations” and make it difficult for the committee to “investigate and eliminate sexual misconduct in the House.”
“Here and elsewhere, sex offenders should never be shielded from responsibility for their crimes,” Speaker Michael Guest, R-Miss., and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said.
But, he said, “Victims may be repelled by the public disclosure of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits. And witnesses who usually speak to the committee only confidentially or on condition of future anonymity may fear reprisals if their cooperation is made public.”
Mays has been outspoken about her own experiences as a survivor of sexual assault and was at the center of the government’s fight to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. She was one of four House Republicans who joined Democrats last fall on a discharge petition that eluded its own GOP leadership and ultimately led to the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files.
A GOP colleague, Texas Rep. She said her decision came after NBC News and other outlets reported that Tony Gonzales sent sexual text messages to Regina Santos-Aviles, a female assistant with whom he had an affair, before killing himself last year. Gonzales previously denied the relationship but has not addressed the substance of the allegations since the text messages came to light.
Mays is among several Republicans who have called for Gonzales to resign.
“I want members of Congress to tell their female colleagues where they stand on sexual harassment in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Mays told reporters. “Do you support the women here, who work here and who are your colleagues, or don’t you?”
Earlier Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee said it would open an investigation into the allegations against Gonzales. House rules expressly prohibit lawmakers from engaging in relationships with members of their own staff.
In a brief statement, Gonzales said of the ethics investigation: “I welcome the opportunity to present all the facts to the committee.”
Just because the ethics committee has launched a formal investigation into Gonzales doesn’t mean its report will see the light of day. Because the Ethics Committee only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress, the investigation will end if they suddenly resign from office or lose their seat this year and the report is not yet complete.
In a Tuesday night primary in Texas, Gonzales was forced into a May runoff election against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera.
