Essential Politics: Women raise their voices on sexual harassment

Oct. 30, 2017 3:30 AM PT

“Why don’t you shut your mouth and open your legs because that’s what you do best.”

That’s what Amy Brown said a male lobbyist on the other side of an issue said to her in front of a large group of people at the entrance to the state Senate chamber about a decade ago.

Brown’s shocking experience is one of 20 stories our team shared Sunday. Chris Megerian, Jack Dolan, Melanie Mason and Dakota Smith teamed up to craft a powerful piece in the women’s own words. And, for so many women, the stories may seem familiar.

Over the last few weeks, women in California politics have been speaking out about sexual harassment and unwanted touching in Sacramento after keeping their conversations discreet for years.

As part of this unfolding conversation, Mason broke the news Friday that an assemblyman was disciplined for groping a staffer when he was a chief of staff. The 2009 investigation found “it is more likely than not that Raul Bocanegra engaged in behavior that night which does not meet the Assembly’s expectations for professionalism.”

Mason also reports that even though both houses of the Legislature have said they will examine their procedures to field complaints of misbehavior in light of the sexual harassment allegations, the state Senate does not make it easy for women to come forward.

George Skelton also looks at the issue of harassment. He writes that the Capitol has always been a “sexual playground,” complete with bullies and bad actors. What’s different now is that women are speaking out.

(Don’t miss Skelton’s 1979 piece from the archives: Politics, Marriage Hard to Mix, Legislators Find)

We’ll be continuing to follow this story here. If you work in government and politics and have a story to share, we’d like to hear from you.

THE BIGGEST POLITICAL STORY IN THE WORLD

One of two former top strategists for the Trump campaign is likely to face indictment as early as Monday, according to a senior Democrat. That would be the first criminal charges in the intensifying probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into current and former members of President Trump’s inner orbit.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said a federal judge could unseal an indictment against either Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, or Michael Flynn, who briefly served as Trump’s national security advisor in the White House. “We haven’t been told who it is,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

We’ll be tracking what happens with Mueller in the moment on Essential Washington.

MORE CHALLENGERS, MORE MONEY

The latest campaign finance reports show the challengers running in California’s House races are raising more money earlier than any other group of challengers has in years.

As Democrats work to regain power in the House, there are more than three times as many congressional challengers across the state today than there were before the 2016 election. With 80 running so far, the candidates have raised money more quickly than any other group of challengers going back to 2003. And 90% of what was raised has gone to Democrats, Christine Mai-Duc reports.

YOU’LL HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS IF YOU LIVE IN A SWING DISTRICT

California’s GOP members of Congress all voted in favor of the Republican budget, paving the way for tax overhaul. Gov. Jerry Brown had urged them not to in a letter before the vote. Rep. Darrell Issa responded with a letter of his own accusing Brown of “pretending to care” about California taxpayers.

Brown also criticized the state’s Republicans for having a “slavish adherence” to Trump and party leaders.

MEANWHILE, IN THE GOVERNOR’S RACE ...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Sunday that he will not run for governor next year. But he didn’t say anything about seeking the presidency in 2020. In a few months, the Democratic mayor will be visiting South Carolina, home to the first-in-the-South presidential primary, Dakota Smith and Seema Mehta report.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the highest-ranking elected Latino official in California, endorsed Gavin Newsom in the governor’s race — instead of his former City Hall colleague Antonio Villaraigosa. Padilla said the backing was based on his long relationship with Newsom, but as Mehta reports, Padilla and Villaraigosa have never been viewed as close political allies and have a history of not supporting each other’s political pursuits.

GOP KEEPING A CLOSER EYE ON ROHRABACHER’S SUBCOMMITTEE

Allegations that Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has been overly influenced by his connections to Russia mean House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) will be “more involved in guiding the direction” of the subcommittee the congressman leads that is in part responsible for examining U.S. policy in Russia, a senior congressional aide who asked not to be identified told Sarah D. Wire.

Rohrabacher has long said that the United States needs an improved relationship with Russia, but his connections with Russian officials have been newly highlighted as Congress investigates Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Meanwhile, Rohrabacher has picked up a second GOP challenger for 2018.

CAR HITS IMMIGRATION PROTESTERS OUTSIDE ROYCE’S OFFICE

A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside Royce’s office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries were immediately reported to police.

The driver, 56-year-old Daniel Wenzek of Brea, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked and released pending further investigation.

A reminder you can keep up with these races in the moment via our Essential Politics news feed on California politics.

TRUMP RILES SCIENTISTS

Stunning new species of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures have been unearthed in southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante in the 21 years since President Clinton named it a national monument. But scientists now fear that Trump will spoil the world-class fossil beds by shrinking the 1.9 million-acre monument, clearing the way for coal mining. It’s a politically charged debate, as scientists now see Grand Staircase-Escalante as one of the planet’s premier spots to research the Late Cretaceous era just before dinosaurs went extinct -- a period when the climate was hotter, the air contained more carbon dioxide, and sea level was near its all-time peak. Michael Finnegan reports.

THE FIGHT TO REPEAL THE GAS TAX

What do Republican politicians in many red states believe that the California GOP does not? Answer: That increasing gas taxes is good public policy and, potentially, winning politics, Skelton writes.

POLITICAL ROAD MAP: WHEN LEGISLATIVE RECORDS ARE KEPT SECRET

It’s widely known that local and state government in California is subject to a wide-ranging law that allows public access to records and documents. But one powerful entity is exempt from that law: the California Legislature.

In his Sunday column, John Myers takes a look at California’s Legislative Open Records Act -- the 1975 law that legislators crafted to apply only to their branch of government. It’s widely viewed as allowing a lot less sunlight, and could be a key hurdle in the current examination of abuse complaints filed by Capitol staffers.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

-- White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the women who have accused President Trump of assault are lying.

-- Trump saw Tom Steyer’s ad calling for the president to be impeached, and he wasn’t too happy about it.

-- Sen. Kamala Harris announced she won’t back the end-of-year federal spending bill without a DACA fix.

-- California Rep. Jackie Speier shared her own sexual assault story in an effort to change Capitol Hill.

-- Rep. Maxine Waters asked Twitter for information about Russian accounts used to attack her.

-- Rep. Paul Cook was picked to lead a Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

-- Battling endorsements have begun in the U.S. Senate race. Six female California lawmakers backed Dianne Feinstein and eight others endorsed Kevin de León soon after.

-- De León vowed to back Medicare for all in a new video.

-- Rep. Scott Peters endorsed fellow Democrat Paul Kerr, one of three challengers looking to take on Issa next year.

-- Garcetti’s World Series bet rankled L.A.’s craft brewing community.

LOGISTICS

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