House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) chair Rep. Steve Israel (D., NY) are calling for a House ethics investigation of Democratic Rep. David Wu of Oregon, in light of new allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward the teenage daughter of a family friend. Here’s Israel:
“New allegations of unacceptable behavior by Congressman Wu are extremely serious and disturbing. I strongly agree with Leader Pelosi’s request that the House Ethics Committee use its authority to begin an immediate investigation.”
The only problem is that “allegations of unacceptable behavior by Congressman Wu” aren’t new. And I’m not even referring to 1976, when a 21-year-old Wu was disciplined by Stanford University and received counseling after a girlfriend accused him of rape. I’m talking about the final days of the 2010 election, when a half-dozen staffers quit over Wu’s increasingly bizarre and aggressive behavior after urging him to seek mental help, while those staffers who remained canceled all public appearances for fear Wu would make a spectacle. During this time, Wu apparently gave a speech so loud and aggressive that a county Democratic functionary lodged an official complaint, and used his congressional clout to improperly breach security lines at Portland International Airpory. He also sent staffers a series of bizarre e-mails — including some ‘signed’ by his tween-age children — and photos of himself wearing a tiger costume. It was at or around this time staffers confronted Wu about his drinking. Of course, all this was reported in the media only after Wu’s cruise to a 55/42 re-election, and then only in local papers. Wu responded to the controversy by starting treatment for an “unspecified mental health condition” in March.
So it appears that a number of Wu’s staffers apparently felt strongly enough about his instability to resign and urge him to seek help, but not to go to the media before the election. Nor does it seem that Steve Israel’s DCCC saw or heard anything last year that prevented that body from cutting Wu checks to the tune of at least $82,000.
Jim Geraghty has more on the topic of Wu and the OR-1 seat over at Campaign Spot.