One of the leaders of the #MeToo movement, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) has made the fight against the pervasive nature of sexual misconduct a hallmark of her presidential campaign.
But now the ambitious senator is grappling with lurid harassment allegations in her own office.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports:
Last summer, a female aide in her mid-20’s who was working in Gillibrand’s office resigned in protest as she criticized the office’s handling of her sexual harassment complaint against a senior male adviser to the senator.
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The female staffer alleged that the male aide – who was a decade older than her and married – made repeated unwelcome advances and crude, misogynistic comments.
The woman – who was granted anonymity because of fears of retaliation – resigned less than three weeks after reporting the alleged harassment.
“I have offered my resignation because of how poorly the investigation and post-investigation was handled,” the woman wrote to Gillibrand in a letter obtained by Politico.
Gillibrand’s communications director Whitney Mitchell has released a statement regarding the incident, “at every step of the process, immediate action was taken by the office. The previous allegations in question were investigated in consultation with Senate Employment Counsel and included multiple interviews with relevant current employees who could potentially corroborate the claims. A full and thorough investigation into the evidence revealed employee misconduct that, while inappropriate, did not meet the standard for sexual harassment.”
However, Mitchell admitted the senior aide in question, Abbas Malik, was fired just last week after “we learned of never-before-reported and deeply troubling comments allegedly made by this same individual.”