After a months-long investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Franklin Republican Rep. Jeremy Durham, Attorney General Herbert Slatery released his report Wednesday afternoon. As expected, it's a doozy.
You can read the entire report here, but here are five things to know:
1. The report details a "pattern" of sexual harassment arising from Durham's alleged interactions with 22 women
Over the course of the investigation, the AG's office says it "made or received in excess of 180 phone calls to locate witnesses and conducted 78 interviews." The information they gathered "revealed a pattern" of harassment. A sample:
— "... sexually suggestive comments such as those to lobbyist Jane Doe #30 that he expected something in return for supporting her bill" and those to Jane Doe #17 saying "there's a thousand places I'd rather meet you than my office."
— The incidents also include "attempted or actual touching of a sexual nature" such as an "attempted kiss" with intern Jane Doe #44. Or this incident with lobbyist Jane Doe #17: "pressed her breasts in a full frontal hug with an 'mmmmmm' sound."
The report notes that this sort of behavior continued "throughout Rep. Durham's tenure in the House, despite warnings from legislative staff member John Doe #15 in 2013 and a discussion with the Director of Legislative Affairs on Nov. 2, 2015, regarding rumors of his inappropriate behavior toward women.
2. Durham allegedly served alcohol to an underage woman and had sex with her in his legislative office
That happened. And the report details later encounters between Durham and the then-20-year-old college student, whom he'd met while she was working for a state Senate candidate.
...
According to the report, the woman said in her interview that she had considered working for the legislature, but no longer had any interest after her experience with Durham.
3. "Pants Candy"
Just read this for yourself:
4. Durham allegedly attempted to use his position as a legislator to initiate sexual relationships with lobbyists
The report details the experiences of 10 lobbyists, whose interactions with Durham are all disturbing for a reason beyond the harassment involved: They show a man using his position of power — the fact that lobbyists need something from him — to behave however he likes and pursue sexual relationships with them. An example:
5. Who knew?
The Durham affair exploded in January, when The Tennessean reported that three women had received "inappropriate" text messages from the legislator. But rumors of his caddish behavior had been circulating for much longer and reporters had been chasing them. It's not clear who knew about Durham's behavior and how much they knew. But you can be sure that this is more surprising to people outside of legislative plaza than it is to many people on the inside.
Durham declined to sit down for an interview with the AG's investigators, but his attorney Bill Harbison released this statement after the report was made public:
We have just read the report, ironically receiving it from the media before we received it from the Attorney General’s office. It reaffirms what we argued yesterday in Court. The investigation has been a politically motivated, unfair and unconstitutional process.Even though nobody ever filed a complaint of sexual harassment, the investigation goes into alleged details with allegations from witnesses whose identity is completely anonymous. Unlike any normal legal proceeding where there is an opportunity to confront witnesses, get notice of subpoenas, or, at the very least, understand the exact allegations against a person, this investigation has been secretive and deceptive from the very beginning. We believe that no fair-minded person should judge Jeremy Durham based on a one-sided, anonymous report.
The Ad Hoc Select Committee appointed earlier this year, which released the report, declined to call for a special session where legislators could expel Durham. An expulsion, however, would only have lasted through the year and would not have prevented Durham from being re-elected and returning next session. Durham faces a Republican challenger, Sam Whitson, in next month's primary. If he survives that contest, he'll be up against Democrat Holly McCall in the general.
