US House ethics panel launches wide-ranging probe into sexual harassment claims

The committee requested lawmakers and staff to provide with all records related to claims to sexual harassment, discrimination that involves any current House member, delegate, officer or employee.

The US House of Representatives ethics committee has begun a sweeping probe into possible sexual harassment and discrimination by the chamber’s 464 lawmakers and their staff, requesting on Friday a wide range of documents from the congressional compliance office.

Participants rally outside CNN’s Hollywood studios on Sunset Boulevard to take a stand against sexual assault and harassment for the #MeToo March in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles on November 12. (AP File Photo)

In a letter to the office, Susan Brooks, the committee’s Republican chair, and Theodore Deutch, its senior Democrat, requested “that you promptly provide the committee with all records in the possession of the Office of related to any claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or any other employment practice” that involves any current House member, delegate, officer or employee.