New congressman faces sexual harassment allegation

Washington — House Democrats are investigating an allegation of sexual harassment against Brian Poindexter, who defeated embattled GOP Rep. Max Miller of Ohio in last week’s elections. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ campaign arm, said Friday that it had hired an independent firm to investigate “any instance of inappropriate behavior, conduct interviews and gather the facts.” “The DCCC has been made aware of the allegations and takes them seriously,” the group’s executive director, Julie Merz, said in a statement. A spokesperson for Poindexter’s campaign characterized his actions as “an innocuous compliment to a volunteer.” “He heard later that it made her feel uncomfortable and he felt awful,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “When Brian learned about this, we immediately began to work to get to the bottom of it with an outside HR firm.

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