Mel Watt, a powerful bureaucrat, former Democratic congressman, and self-described “big supporter of the #MeToo movement” is defending himself from sexual harassment allegations, suggesting his accuser deliberately manipulated her recollections of their encounters. (Politico)
Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, told his former colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee that he is a “big supporter of the #MeToo movement … but it cannot be a substitute for going through the legal process.”
Watt spoke hours after agency employee Simone Grimes testified to the committee that he had repeatedly made sexual advances during conversations about salary concerns, leaving her feeling “unsafe and vulnerable.”
Members of the panel treated Grimes with deference and commended her decision to come forward. Both Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) spoke in unusually personal terms, reflecting the extraordinary cultural moment that spurred two simultaneous hearings Thursday featuring women bringing sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men.
“I am the father of two teenagers. … It is horrific to me to think that one day, when my daughter enters the workforce, that she might be harassed, that she might be discriminated against,” Hensarling said. “But I am also, also the father of a teenage son … [and] it is intolerable to me to think that a mere accusation of impropriety would somehow deny him of … due process.”
Watt, an unabashed liberal, befriended Grimes years ago.
AAN Staff
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