To the Editor:

Oh, boy. It’s like 1974 all over again. A high-profile elected official is doing his best to dodge the scrutiny of an investigative agency looking into a sex and misappropriation of funds scandal in his office.

The official is our own Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Cashiers. The agency is the Office of Congressional Ethics. This is the independent, nonpartisan agency charged with reviewing the conduct of members of Congress. Its purpose is to conduct an unbiased review of questionable behavior and issue a public report on its findings.    

There is another committee that serves this function, too. It’s the House Committee on Ethics ... similar name, similar sounding purpose, but with a wholly different approach. It’s made up of House members — not an independent staff — who have an interest in protecting each other. And after the HEC makes its report, the report is not available to the public.

Meadows’ problems started in October 2014, when his chief of staff, Kenny West, made women in his congressional office “uncomfortable,” with three testifying that he sexually harassed them. The next month, Meadows moved the man out of his office, giving him an advisory title, but in essence he did no work. However, he got paid. The same as he’d been paid as chief of staff. By April 2015, it was announced that West was no longer chief of staff, but the payments continued until August of that year.  And that broke the rules outlined in the House Ethics Manual.  

Meadows variously called the payments “severance” or “vacation” pay, neither of which held water with the OCE. Then Meadows refused to cooperate with the OCE, instead saying that he would cooperate only with the friendlier HEC … the one that would hide its report. In his attempt to obscure the facts and avoid transparency in his misuse of public funds, Meadows is hiding something. Just what, he’s not saying.  

So it’s time to make the same demand that the special prosecutor made of Richard Nixon: turn over the tapes so that we know what is behind your cover up.

Shirley Ches

Franklin