Three weeks after his client, M. Reese Everson, publicly claimed at an Arlington, Va. news conference that she was a victim of sexual misconduct at the hands of Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), attorney Jack Burkman lashed out at the lack of investigation, even after formal requests, in letter to Ethics Committee Chairwoman Susan Brooks.
“Why is Congresswoman Susan Brooks trying to suffocate this? This committee has done nothing after my client bravely stepped forward, nor did they respond to my formal request for action,” says Burkman. “In television news and in Hollywood, those accused are suspended, fired or at the very least thoroughly investigated. But not in Congress. How this man not even facing an investigation?”
Burkman says its female chair hasn’t even bothered to respond to his formal letter demanding action.
Download the full letter here.
“While victims are typically to be believed, the situation as of this writing sits stuck at a ‘she said, he said’ position, and unless more victim’s step forward, or the Committee probes what happened, it will likely stay that way and the status quo will prevail,” Jack Burkman writes in the letter dated Dec. 21, addressed to Susan W. Brooks, chair of the House Committee on Ethics.
“At the very least there must be an investigation by your Committee,” implores Burkman. “Ms. Everson is willing to testify under oath as to her claims, at any time of her choosing.”
“Are they worried more victims will come forward? It’s unacceptable and damaging to women who’ve been victimized in the workplace,” says Burkman, the D.C. lawyer who’s representing M. Reese Everson.“
On Friday, December 15, 2017, Everson, a lawyer herself and a former legislative aid, alleged that in 2013 Rep. Scott touched her leg and body without permission and offered to advance her career if she allowed him to have his way.
“This should have nothing to do with politics,” says Burkman. “Democrat or Republican—any member of Congress accused of this type of behavior at least be investigated. If Congress can’t even manage that, what message does that say to women who’ve been victims?
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SOURCE: Jack Burkman
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