Sen. Charles Schwertner
In the face of a sexual harassment allegation, state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, has hired two Austin attorneys and denied sending “any inappropriate texts as alleged” — “Period.” — in a new statement Wednesday from the attorneys.
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Schwertner has hired attorneys Perry and David Minton to represent him, the Statesman reported. The attorneys said they have been in touch with UT-Austin to “resolve this matter.” The law firm did not immediately return a request for comment from the Tribune.
“The Senator is devastated over these allegations and is concerned for the unnamed victim,” the lawyers said in a statement to the Statesman. “Our statements regarding the Senator will be proven in the days and weeks to come. Until then, Senator Schwertner deserves the courtesy of holding judgment until he is afforded the opportunity for a fair process to occur.”
See here for the background, and here for that Statesman story, which has a lot more detail. That new statement implicitly acknowledges that Schwertner did text the grad student in question, though he continues to deny that there was anything inappropriate in them. As I said, the existence of texts means the existence of objective evidence. One way or the other, we should be able to know the truth of the matter. For now, Schwertner’s colleagues, as well as Dan Patrick, are mostly taking a wait-and-see attitude. Like I said, one way or the other we should know something real eventually.
Meg Walsh
Schwertner, who has represented the district since 2013 and is the chairman of the powerful Health and Human Services Committee, is facing two female challengers in the upcoming midterm elections: Democrat Meg Walsh and Libertarian Amy Lyons.
“If these allegations are true, Sen. Schwertner is unfit to serve in office,” Walsh said in a statement released Wednesday. “These serious allegations deserve a full and thorough investigation.”
Walsh also noted in the statement that she has dealt with workplace harassment before and will “never stop fighting so that women and every single person is treated with the respect they deserve.”
In an interview with The Texas Tribune Wednesday afternoon, Walsh reiterated her assertion that Schwertner is unfit to serve and said that if the allegation is true, it is a “serious abuse of power.”
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While Schwertner is unlikely to lose his seat in November, a soft showing for his re-election could potentially endanger other Republicans on the ballot whose districts overlap with Schwertner’s.
Bill Fairbrother, chairman of the Williamson County Republican Party, said state Rep. Tony Dale, R-Cedar Park, is in a “purplish and competitive district” that overlaps with Schwertner’s. Clinton defeated Trump in that district by less than 3 percentage points in 2016, according to data from the Texas Legislative Council.
A the story notes, SD05 is pretty solidly Republican; Trump carried it by 20 points in 2016. The truth would have to be really bad, and probably need to come out quickly, to have a significant effect. There could be a trickle-down effect, however, with the likes of Rep. Dale as casualties. Which would be fine by me, of course. Maybe now would be a good time for Annie’s List to jump in and lend a hand to Walsh. They don’t normally play in a race like this, but if now isn’t time for them to get involved, when would it be?
The pound me too movement is about to sound it’s death rattle today. The hit job on Judge Kavanaugh, with one accuser even more unbelievable than the next, is going to wake up normal people that the era of using being a female as a weapon is over. All of America is seeing a good man, a literal Boy Scout, being besmirched and smeared by flawed women eager for their 15 minutes and whatever cash has been promised to them. Gofundme seems like the newest money laundering vehicle for this.
If Shwertner sent inappropriate text messages, and they are really outlandish, and verifiable, then OK, use that as a campaign attack, but it’s just one thing to consider, just like Beto fleeing the scene of a DWI….not necessarily disqualifying. I’m more concerned about his voting record.
The conveniently timed Kavanaugh hit job is going to turn normal people away from believing random accusations. People aren’t blind. Slags coming out of the woodwork just in time to try and derail a sure thing SCOTUS nomination? That is just as obvious as pre printing Stop _______ signs for all potential nominees for an appointment. It doesn’t matter WHO is being proposed, that person is an evil rapist that must be stopped. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. Kavanaugh has a wife and two young daughters who have to see all this.
More generally, this era where any one of us on this board could be the next Duke Lacrosse team or victim of Mattress Girl can’t end soon enough. Until then, it could be your son, your husband, or your father next. Think about that. Also think about the fact that leftists have turned a RINO Bush Republican moderate into, well, Clarence Thomas……someone who will remember what the left did to him and his family. Think Kavanaugh’s going to give any breaks to leftists when he gets on the court after all this? Oops.