Earlier in the day, Speier testified in front of the House Administration Committee that two members of Congress, a Republican and a Democrat, have engaged in sexual harassment in the past. Todd asked Speier about her allegations of sexual harassment and what she believes her responsibility is in going public with that information.
"Well, it is my responsibility to address the seriousness of this issue. These survivors are subject to a non-disclosure agreement. I'm not going to violate their non-disclosure agreement," Speier responded.
"I think moving forward we have got to take steps to make sure that there is transparency. That in fact, the harasser is not going to have the settlement paid for out of the U.S. Treasury and have all the taxpayers paying for it. It should be something that is paid for by the individual."
Todd followed up by asking Speier if taxpayer money has been used to protect the identities of these members of Congress.
"One member of Congress has been - has settled a claim, and there has been a taxpayer settlement," Speier told Todd.
Todd asked Speier if taxpayers have a right to know to know about these settlements.
"Well, I think you do have the right to know. But right now, under the system, you don't have a right to know," Speier informed Todd. "We do know there is about $15 million that has been paid out by the House on behalf of harassers in the last 10 to 15 years."
Todd seemed flabbergasted by the amount of money that had been paid out over the last 10 to 15 years.
Comment: So while Hollywood scum have to pay for their sexual harassment out of their own pockets, congress gets to bill it to the taxpayer. Since this essentially means there's no consequence for these abuses, including the offenses being publicized, where's the incentive for the monkeys in congress to actually control their behaviour?