Allegations that California State Senate Pro Tem leader Kevin de León tried to quash sexual harassment claims against his roommate may have upset an to dump 84-year-old U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) announced on October 15 that he intended to mount a primary challenge against the 25-year veteran U.S. Senator, because he claimed Feinstein had failed to aggressively resist President Donald Trump and her policies are not “progressive enough” for the current make up Democratic Party.
De Leon’s website is titled “A progressive voice for California.” He highlights his support for abortion, passing the “first law in the nation to require affirmative consent” before sex, and legislation “that requires public high schools teaching health education classes to include sexual assault prevention in their curricula.”
Breitbart News reported that De León picked up a huge endorsement in his effort to dump Feinstein on November 9, when Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile told a San Francisco Commonwealth Club audience that it was time for “the Dianne Feinsteins” to retire and “just scoot over, make room” for younger liberals with grassroots support, like Kevin de León.
But Oakland attorney Micha Star Liberty told Capital Public Radio on November 10 that she represents one of three staffers that were allegedly fired for formally complaining to the State Senate Rules Committee, which De León chairs, about sexual harassment by his “weekday roommate,” State Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia).
According to Star Liberty, Mendoza allegedly invited a 23-year-old Sacramento State intern back to his place to review résumés for full-time jobs, including hers, on an early September night that Democrat legislators were partying at the Mix Downtown nightclub.
The intern allegedly reported the incident. Two Mendoza staffers also allegedly took those allegations, and others, to the California Senate Rules Committee.
Attorney Star Liberty stated that Rules Committee staff and Senate sergeants-at-arms met with three Mendoza staffers that presented significant details to back claims regarding sexual harassment.
The three staff were allegedly placed on paid administrative leave “effective immediately” and given a termination “operative date” of September 30. Attorney Star Liberty argues that the action “smacks of retaliation.”
Star Liberty’s claims seem to contradict California Senate Secretary Daniel Alvarez’s statement, published by the Sacramento Bee the prior day, that Mendoza’s staffers were terminated and signed confidentiality agreements before filing their complaints.
Sacramento has been hit by a wave of accusations in the wake of the sexual harassment scandals rocking Hollywood.
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