Sheila Jackson Lee

[Gregory Matthews]

Thanks to Spectrulm:

Adventist Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Temporarily Steps Down from Key Posts Amid Ex-aide's Retribution Claim in Sexual Assault Case. Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, under fire from a former aide's lawsuit alleging she was fired in connection with a sexual assault complaint, said that she will step down temporarily as chairwoman of a key House Judiciary subcommittee on criminal justice. Jackson Lee, a Seventh-day Adventist in her 13th term, also resigned as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a post that helped raise her national profile. The lawsuit, filed by a woman who worked in Jackson Lee's office from November 2017 to March 2018, claims that she was dismissed after notifying the congresswoman's chief of staff that she planned to take legal action against the foundation over an alleged sexual assault involving one of the group's supervisors. Jackson Lee issued a statement "adamantly" denying the woman's allegation and recounting her record of advancing civil rights and non-discrimination legislation, including a law that applies to Congress. She also has been a key voice in the push to extend the historic 1994 Violence Against Women Act. The loss of a leading role on the criminal justice subcommittee was a setback for Jackson Lee, who would have been the first black woman in that post overseeing an important issue in the African American community. While Jackson Lee battles the woman's allegations, it became clear Wednesday that the case was costing her support among key allies, including the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, which announced that the group could no longer "support her continued lead sponsorship" of the Violence Against Women Act. From Houston Chronicle, “Sheila Jackson Lee steps down from key posts amid ex-aide's retribution claim in sex assault case.”

NOTE:  These are only charges.  She has not been convicted of anything--GM.