Washington
The committee initially launched an investigation into Farenthold in September 2015, but it was “significantly delayed” because the committee could not get “key witnesses other than Representative Farenthold” to testify, according to the committee’s statement.
His former communications director, Lauren Greene, in 2014 accused Farenthold of making sexually charged comments designed to gauge whether she was interested in a sexual relationship. Greene filed suit through the formal complaint process of the congressional Office of Compliance.
It was revealed last week that Farenthold used $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle the lawsuit. The existence of this settlement was reported publicly in 2015, but the amount was unknown until the Committee on House Administration recently released new records on settlements involving House members’ offices over the past five years. Farenthold has denied wrongdoing in the case.
This week, Greene spoke publicly about her experience for the first time since making the accusation. In interviews with CNN and Politico, she described the significant professional backlash she faced after filing a lawsuit against Farenthold.
Greene’s attorney told Politico on Thursday that the House Ethics Committee has requested Greene to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the panel. The Ethics Committee had requested to interview her over a year ago, but she declined, wanting to move on from the matter, her attorney, Les Alderman, told Politico.
Greene cooperated with the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation, Alderman told Politico. The committee cleared Farenthold of the allegations, and recommended the House Committee on Ethics dismiss the allegations.
Farenthold said in a statement Thursday that he is “relieved” the House Ethics Committee will continue investigating the matter, saying he is “confident this matter will once and for all be settled and resolved.”
“I’m also pleased the Committee on Ethics recognizes, as per their statement, that I have cooperated fully with the committee’s investigation and has acknowledged a decision has been delayed because of difficulty obtaining live testimony from other witnesses,” Farenthold said. “This investigation increases the transparency the public deserves and what I’ve wanted since the beginning.”