Keeping quiet about congressional wrongdoing

Roll Call -Four months ago, calls denouncing misconduct came swiftly, and all at once. Now, it’s near silence.

Allegations surrounding two House Republicans reached a fever pitch this week, as Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina dropped out of his reelection campaign due to a report detailing “inappropriate conduct” toward two female staffers and Rep. Max Miller of Ohio doubled down on denying domestic abuse allegations made by his ex-wife. 

With the House gone for August recess, lawmakers often rely on social media and press releases to comment on the issues of the day. But so far it’s crickets from many who previously condemned a pair of colleagues accused of sexual misconduct by their staff earlier this year. 

“It’s a leadership problem. Mike Johnson should be saying, ‘I have a problem in my caucus. I have a problem in my Congress, and it is my job to fix that,’” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. 

When asked about Miller, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Politico that “domestic events” are “not my business.” He said he spoke with Edwards briefly about the “serious allegations” against him. On social media, Johnson most recently posted about communism in America.

“What should a speaker do in this case?” Johnson told Politico. “I mean, I call out alarming behavior. … We have a very active and engaged Ethics Committee; they’ve done more work than they need to. I wish it wasn’t necessary. But there’s been a lot in this Congress on both sides of the aisle.”

“There’s all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time; it’s not my business to get engaged in it,” he added.