Congressman John Conyers, 88, insists he knows NOTHING about sexual harassment settlements paid out of his government office after woman claimed he told her to 'touch it'
- Michigan Representative John Conyers settled a complaint in 2015 from a woman who alleged she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances
- Buzzfeed News reported that Conyers' office paid the woman over $27,000 to settle the complaint under a confidentiality agreement
- One staffer claimed that Conyers used 'Congressional resources' to fly in women that he was having affairs with into Washington DC
- BuzzFeed said it received the documents from right-wing activist Mike Cernovich, but independently confirmed their authenticity
- The 88-year-old Conyers is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving current member of the House
Conyers was born in 1929 and first elected to the House in 1964. He is also the longest serving African American member of the House and a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus.
As he noted during attorney general Jeff Sessions appearance before the Judiciary Committee last week while reading from a prepared statement, Conyers participated in the the panel's probe of President Richard Nixon.
His wife, Monica Conyers, filed for divorce in 2014, the year of the complaint, the Detroit Free Press reported in 2015.
It was also a tumultuous year for Conyers reelection, after 400 of 1,000 ballot petitions were found to be from people with an incorrect address or people who weren't registered voters. A federal judge ultimately let him on the ballot.
California Democrat Zoe Lofgren called for the House Ethics Committee to take up the matter.
'The reports about Congressman Conyers are as serious as they get,' Lofgren said in a statement, Politico reported. 'The Committee on Ethics should take up this matter immediately with a goal of promptly assessing the validity of the news account. This reported behavior cannot be tolerated in the House of Representatives or anywhere else.'
The 88-year-old Conyers is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving current member of the House. Calls to Conyers and his office seeking comment were not immediately returned Monday night.
The government has paid more than $17 million in taxpayer money over the last 20 years to resolve claims of sexual harassment, overtime pay disputes and other workplace violations filed by employees of Congress.
The Office of Compliance released the numbers amid a wave of revelations of sexual misconduct in the worlds of entertainment, business and politics that made its way to Capitol Hill last week.
