Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is stepping down as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation amid pressure from the group, sources tell BuzzFeed News. The decision comes as Jackson Lee faces a lawsuit from a former staffer, who says the congresswoman retaliated against her plan to sue the CBCF over an alleged rape by one of its ex-employees.
In the lawsuit filed last week, the anonymous plaintiff says she was raped by then-CBCF intern coordinator Damien Jones in October 2015. The woman says she was a 19-year-old CBCF intern at the time, and says she told police and her former boss Rep. Terry Sewell (D-Ala.) about the assault. She did not decide to pursue legal action until years later, when she was working for Jackson Lee, the documents say. When the plaintiff told Jackson Lee's chief of staff about her plans to sue the organization, she was soon fired, per the court filing.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A flower revival, a vibrant carnival, and more
-
Drawing the Italian Renaissance: a 'relentlessly impressive' exhibitionThe Week Recommends Show at the King's Gallery features an 'enormous cache' of works by the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael
-
Niall Williams shares his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The Irish novelist chooses works by Charles Dickens, Seamus Heaney and Wendell Berry
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
