Congress Loves Transparency – Just Not the Bill to Release Its Sexual Misconduct Files – RedState
Congress had an opportunity this week to pull back the curtain on sexual misconduct investigations involving its own members.
Instead, he slammed the door.
On Wednesday, the House voted 357-65 to send Rep. Nancy Mace’s resolution demanding transparency in sexual misconduct investigations directly to the Ethics Committee, the place where embarrassing transparency proposals go to die. In Washington, sending something to committee is often just a polite way of burying it.
Mace previously warned that this is exactly what leaders in both parties plan to do.
Speaking to reporters inside the Capitol complex shortly before the vote, the South Carolina Republican said the outcome was already clear.
🔥🚨DEVELOPMENT: Rep. Nancy Mace says Democrats and Republicans are pushing their members against her bill to release records of sexual misconduct by members of Congress so they can be sent to committee. Mace says he will never see the bill.
The motion to send the… pic.twitter.com/Q11UcFU5fU
— Dom Lucre | Story Breaker (@dom_lucre) March 5, 2026
“I think Democrats and Republicans are fighting to send this to committee, which means they’re going to protect each other. Once again, it will fail and we won’t get accountability or transparency. The American people are held to one standard, and Congress is held to another entirely.”
His resolution was simple. It required the House Ethics Committee to preserve and make public records related to investigations involving sexual harassment or sexual relations between members of Congress and their staff. The identities of the victims would be redacted, but the investigative documents themselves would become public.
Currently, most of these investigations take place almost entirely behind closed doors. The ethics committee can investigate its members, but the public rarely sees the reports, evidence or findings. Cases disappear in the committee process, and voters are left to guess what really happened and how Congress handled the situation.
Mace says in his interview that secrecy protects the institution more than the victims.
“You’re going to see men in Congress, Republicans and Democrats this afternoon, hiding behind the veil of ‘let the process play out,’ and this is going to go to committee and not see the light of day, and it will never see the light of day, because the process is broken.”
Leaders from both parties quickly blocked the proposal, arguing that releasing investigative records could discourage victims or witnesses from cooperating in future investigations.
Three hundred and fifty-seven members chose to send the measure back to committee rather than allow the public to see what the Ethics Commission has discovered over the years.
No MP who voted against our resolution on transparency can claim to care about Epstein’s victims. You voted to protect predators in your own government.
Sit down.
– Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) March 4, 2026
And all of this is happening while Congress is already grappling with another disturbing misconduct scandal involving one of its own. Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales (TX-23) has faced scrutiny over a romantic relationship with a staffer, something House rules explicitly prohibit between lawmakers and the staffers they supervise.
These are the members of Congress who voted to bury members of Congress’ sexual harassment records and keep you in the dark: https://t.co/uFR2JcHEOi
– Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) March 4, 2026
The situation became even more worrying after the employee died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire, a tragedy that shined an even harsher light on the relationship and the power imbalance involved.
Learn more: Democrats bring Epstein survivors to SOTU. But why weren’t they invited to Biden’s speeches?
It’s done: Bondi tells Congress she released all the Epstein files, and they’re not coming anymore
The case helped spark Mace’s push for greater transparency. His proposal was not limited to a single incident. This would have required the Ethics Committee to release records related to every investigation involving sexual harassment or sexual misconduct by members of Congress.
Hundreds of lawmakers had a choice. They could vote for transparency, or they could vote to keep the system as it is.
Three hundred and fifty-seven people voted to keep it exactly that way.
Congress loves transparency.
Until it applies to Congress
Editor’s note: The mainstream media is not interested in facts; they only want to attack the president. Help us continue to get to the bottom of stories like the Jeffrey Epstein cases by supporting our truth-seeking journalism today.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
