A bipartisan bill recently introduced in Congress would prohibit candidates for a federal office from using campaign funds to pay for legal fees or other costs stemming from sexual abuse, assault or harassment claims.
It would bar a federal candidate or officeholder from using campaign funds to pay for their legal defense, settlements or other court-ordered judgments that result from such allegations. And it would also prohibit a candidate from using those funds to pay for investigators or opposition research about the person making the allegation.
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The bill is led by Reps. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican.
The bill comes on the heels of multiple high-profile candidates ending campaigns this year — Eric Swalwell for California governor and Graham Platner for U.S. Senate in Maine — after being publicly accused of abuse and assault. Other lawmakers have been the subject of congressional ethics investigations in recent months as well, including Tony Gonzales, who resigned from Congress in April after admitting to an affair with one of his staffers who died by suicide, and Florida Rep. Cory Mills faces a House Ethics Committee probe for alleged dating violence and sexual misconduct.
“Those who seek or hold federal office must be held to the highest standard of accountability,” Luna, who grew up in Orange County, said in a statement.
“If a candidate is accused of sexual assault, sexual abuse or sexual harassment, campaign donations and legal expense funds should never become a personal bailout,” she said. “If you commit sexual misconduct, you should foot the bill, not the donors who put their trust in you.”
Khanna, meanwhile, said the bill is meant to increase transparency and prevent attempts to silence those who come forward with allegations.
“Our bipartisan legislation addresses a basic principle: Money donated to support a political campaign should not become a personal legal-defense fund for alleged sexual misconduct,” Khanna said.
The recently introduced bill has the backing of Reckoning Action, an organization started in May by Cheyenne Hunt, an Orange County-based attorney who helped amplify the women who accused Swalwell and Platner of abuse and misconduct. Her new group aims to confront misogyny and gender bias, particularly in politics.
Hunt, in an interview in July ahead of the bill’s introduction, lamented the ability of politicians and candidates to use donor money to go after survivors who come forward.
She pointed to reports that Swalwell paid a lawyer who defended him amid the allegations with campaign funds. Even though Swalwell had resigned from Congress and was out of the gubernatorial contest, the women who accused him of wrongdoing were still dealing with him and the fallout months later, Hunt said. (Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing.)
“We would love to see that change,” Hunt said then, “and we’re going to work at the federal and state levels to close that loophole.”
“It is egregious, and I think most people who give to candidates do it because they have some kind of vision of democracy, and not because they want that money going to harass sexual abuse and assault survivors,” she said.
Of the bill, Hunt applauded the bipartisan nature, saying: “Standing with survivors is not a partisan issue.”
“Over the past two months, we’ve seen that change is possible when courageous survivors come forward to expose the truth and call for accountability. But bringing these stories forward is only half the battle,” Hunt said. “When the media attention fades, survivors are left bracing for endless legal attacks from their abusers, often funded by campaign dollars. This bill sends a strong message: no more campaign-funded cover-ups.”
The bill, dubbed the No Campaign Funded Cover-Ups Act, was only recently introduced and assigned to the Committee on House Administration.