According to South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, she has acquired documents via a congressional subpoena that illustrate the sums of several private sexual impropriety and harassment agreements reached on behalf of members of Congress and settled using U.S. taxpayer money, totaling over $338,000 over a decade — while correspondence to the House Oversight Committee indicates that a number of supplementary documents on the subject have been discarded.
Shortly after securing the documents on Monday, Mace revealed the identities of eight former representatives and the office of one previous representative.
None of the past members disclosed by Mace currently occupy a public position, but the fundamental revelation provides an insight into the legislative branch's recent past in addressing sexual misconduct.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., presents documents related to Rep. Cory Mills,R-Fla., as she participates in a House Armed Services Committee hearing with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
In a message on X, Mace — a member of the House Oversight Committee — initially shared an image of a binder that she stated held more than 1,000 pages of documents from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights starting in 2007 and extending to 2017.
The agreements are funded by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights Section 415 fund, authorized by the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995.
Among those named by Mace are former Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., former Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., former Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and former Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., both of whom died not long after departing Congress.
Mace specified an $8,000 agreement in 2009 for McCarthy's office, who was allegedly aware of and engaged in misconduct regarding a consensual intimate liaison between an assistant and a senior staff member. She also encountered claims of discrimination based on sex and impairment, plus reprisal.
For Conyers, a $50,000 payment was issued in 2010. He reportedly made advances toward a staffer. Four years afterward, Conyers dealt with a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, ageism, and reprisal allegations, leading to improper termination and a $27,111.75 compensation.
Meehan is noted to possess two cases regarding alleged sexual harassment by a senior staffer that the member knew about and alleged sexual misconduct by the member. The severance payment duration for the complainant is listed at $39,250.
Meehan verified to ABC News on Wednesday that he reimbursed the settlement following his resignation.
"I have no comment. Anything [Mace] releases has already been public knowledge for 8 years," Meehan stated. "Indeed, I personally returned the full settlement amount within 30 days of leaving, as I promised."
Alexander, who departed Congress in 2013 and subsequently became the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs secretary, encountered an allegation of a consensual sexual connection with a staffer before her employment, resulting in her supposed mistreatment and discharge, according to an informant knowledgeable of the document creation. The compensation was valued at $15,000.
Alexander stated to ABC News in a declaration that the $15,000 settlement linked to his name resulted from "the conduct of two staffers" within his office.
"Nineteen years prior, during my congressional tenure, there were two distinct and unrelated events involving the conduct of two personnel in my office. The accusations were forwarded to the appropriate authorities, and settlement payments were rendered by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights," Alexander penned. "Following an immediate probe, both offending staffers' employment with my office was immediately terminated. At no time during my congressional service was any claim levied against me."
An attorney for Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., who faced claims of a toxic work setting, sexual harassment, and improper touching, communicated to ABC News in 2017 that the former representative possessed no understanding of the payments. Three Massa cases were identified, accompanied by three agreements totaling $115,000.
Former Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, informed ABC News in 2018 that he lacked any intentions of reimbursing the $84,000 sexual harassment settlement originating from a 2014 grievance by a past congressional aide alleging sexual misconduct, gender discrimination, and retaliation. He resigned in 2018 and passed away the year prior.
The records pertaining to nine cases were furnished Monday to Mace and the House Oversight Committee by the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights as part of an initial document yield following a committee subpoena, according to a letter authored by John N. Ohlweiler, general counsel at the OCWR, dispatched to the committee on April 24.
The letter introduces "relevant statistical data" concerning OCWR cases spanning Jan. 1, 1996, through Dec. 12, 2018. The OCWR affirms it "approved a total of 349 awards or settlements to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices."
"Certain awards or settlements may have solved more than one grievance lodged by the same individual against the same office. From these 349 awards or settlements, 80 were resolved by the Office of a House of Representatives Member or the Office of a Senator," the letter declares.
ABC News has studied an April 24 letter to the committee, which omits the names of any lawmakers whose cases are itemized in the 1,000-page document delivery to the Oversight Committee, meeting an April 30 deadline established by a committee subpoena. An informant familiar with the document release affirmed to ABC News that the names mentioned by Mace do emerge in the 1,000-page response from OCWR, although ABC News has yet to autonomously analyze the comprehensive document package.
Mace announces that she intends to make the documents available after thoroughly examining them to assure that any sensitive information pertaining to victims is fully redacted.
In his correspondence to the committee, Ohlweiler elucidated how the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights determined which documents fulfilled the committee's goal of probing sexual impropriety or harassment involving a member of Congress.
Ohlweiler's letter acknowledges that the CAA Reform Act of 2018 mandates OCR to establish a program for the continuous preservation of documents, and OCR's existing Record Retention Policy necessitates the digital conservation of records from all filed cases.
"We emphasized our efforts on identifying those cases encompassing accusations of precise Member misconduct — particularly sexual misconduct or harassment — that resulted in awards or settlements, and locating the documents associated with those cases," Ohlweiler communicated to Oversight Chairman James Comer and ranking Democrat Robert Garcia.
U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., speaks to journalists before a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, on April 30, 2026 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.Graeme Sloan/Getty Images
The letter from Ohlweiler clarifies that from the 80 total agreements, a minimum of 20 case files "were destroyed pursuant to an 'OCWR Record Retention Policy' that required case records to be destroyed ten years after the case was fully closed," following a retention policy "put in place in 2013 to align OCWR with regular government-wide record retention practices."
The OCWR states it maintained a retention policy mandating case records to be obliterated ten years after the case reached full closure — a policy it enacted in 2013 to bring OCWR into conformity with "regular government-wide record retention practices."
Ohlweiler's letter indicates that the CAA Reform Act of 2018 commands OCR to formulate a program for the perpetual preservation of records, and OCR's prevailing Record Retention Policy compels the digital preservation of records from all submitted cases.
"These 20 obliterated physical case files dated to the timeframe between 1996 and 2003. There are 3 additional physical case files from 2003 and 2004 for which the 'OCWR Record Retention Policy — Destruction Schedule' indicates the physical case files were destroyed, but we have not yet physically confirmed that destruction took place because the relevant boxes from long-term storage have not been examined."
Ohlweiler states that OCWR does still possess and has inspected the original Settlement Agreements for these 23 cases — encompassing the terms of the settlements. However, Ohlweiler explains that the documents "do not specify any details about the underlying allegations, including who was accused of committing the alleged misconduct."
There were six supplementary cases destined for destruction between 1997 and 2001 for which OCWR lacks the Settlement Agreement or the case file, according to Ohlweiler's letter. Ohlweiler states that details within the office's archived content management system validates that these six cases were lodged against member offices and were eventually settled.
"For these 6 cases, the CMS does not provide any information regarding the terms of the settlement (except that only one of the six required a payment from the 416 Fund) or the details of the underlying allegations," Ohlweiler communicated.
"The results of my subpoena of Congress's sexual harassment slush fund are in. Nine members. One thousand pages," Mace posted on X on Monday. "All records prior to 2004 were destroyed — which tells you everything you need to know about how long this has been buried. We are reviewing every page. We will name all nine. We will release the full 1,000 pages — once we confirm that personally identifiable information of victims and witnesses has been properly redacted. Accountability is not a threat. It is a promise."
"Read that again: they destroyed all the evidence prior to 2004," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, responded on X.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com