WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday voted to scuttle an effort by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace to shed more light on sexual misconduct allegations against members of Congress.
Mace, a conservative Republican who is running to be governor of South Carolina, forced a floor vote on her resolution directing the House Ethics Committee to make public all reports on allegations of congressional lawmakers and aides engaging in sexual misconduct or harassment.
But in a 357-65 vote, the House voted to refer the Mace resolution to committee — a move that effectively killed it.
The Ethics Committee had encouraged members to vote to refer the resolution. In a joint statement, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the committee argued it "could chill victim cooperation and witness participation in ongoing and future investigations" and would make it harder for the committee "to investigate and eliminate sexual misconduct in the House."
“Here and elsewhere, perpetrators of sexual misconduct should never be shielded from responsibility for their misdeeds,” Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and ranking member Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said.
But, they added, “victims may be retraumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits. And witnesses, who often only speak to the Committee confidentially or on condition of future anonymity, could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.”
Mace has spoken openly about her own experiences as a sexual assault survivor, and she’s been at the center of the fight over releasing the government’s Jeffrey Epstein files. She was one of just four House Republicans who teamed with Democrats on a discharge petition last fall that circumvented her own GOP leadership and eventually led to the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files.
She said her resolution came after NBC News and other outlets reported that a GOP colleague, Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, had sent sexual text messages to a female aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, with whom he allegedly had an affair before she died by suicide last year. Gonzales previously denied having an affair but has not addressed the substance of the allegations since the text messages came to light.
Mace is among several Republicans who have called on Gonzales to resign.
“I would like members of Congress to tell their female colleagues where they stand on sexual harassment within the U.S. House of Representatives,” Mace told reporters. “Do you support women up here, that work up here, and who are your colleagues, or do you not?”
Earlier Wednesday, the House Ethics panel said it will open an investigation into the allegations against Gonzales. House rules explicitly prohibit lawmakers from engaging in relationships with their own staff members.
In a brief statement, Gonzales said of the Ethics probe: “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 would ever see the light of day. Since the Ethics panel only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress, the investigation would end if he abruptly resigned from office, or if he loses his seat this year and the report is not yet complete.
In Tuesday night's primary in Texas, Gonzales was forced into a May runoff election against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera.
