Compel him to testify

Watt accuser asks Congress to compel him to testify on harassment suit

By KATY O'DONNELL

The lawyer representing a woman who is accusing Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt of sexual harassment is calling on Congress to compel Watt to testify on the matter.

In letters to more than two-dozen lawmakers with oversight of housing and the FHFA, Diane Seltzer Torre said Watt has refused to cooperate with an investigation into the complaint. She also said that both the agency — which supervises mortgage-financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — and its inspector general have retaliated against her client, Simone Grimes.

Grimes, an FHFA special adviser, on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against the agency, seeking $1 million in damages for allegedly receiving less pay than the man who held the position before her. The suit alleges that Grimes’ rejection of Watt's sexual advances "was directly related" to the agency's failure to adjust her pay.

FHFA Inspector General Laura Wertheimer — whose office is conducting its own probe into the harassment claim — is a named party in Grimes’ complaint against the agency, according to the Aug. 20 letters obtained by POLITICO.

In her letter to the Senate Banking Committee, Seltzer Torre says the complaint alleges a “nuanced and unusual relationship exists between Director Watt and Laura Wertheimer, and that relationship has been used as a means to perpetuate harassment, discrimination and retaliation against Ms. Grimes."

She added, “The acts of retaliation from the FHFA and the OIG since the case was filed suggest that Director Watt and OIG Wertheimer are not autonomous and have an overly cozy relationship."

Megan Moore, a spokeswoman for Watt, an Obama-appointed regulator whose term expires in January, said the director would have no comment on the letters.

The inspector general this month named Grimes, whose identity had not previously been made public, in a court petition to enforce a subpoena for unedited audio recordings and documents.

The U.S. Postal Service is conducting the administrative investigation of an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint Grimes filed within the FHFA earlier this year. Wertheimer’s office is conducting a parallel probe into the matter.

Seltzer Torre asked that the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees request copies of the Postal Service’s investigative report, and if either panel “determines further investigation is necessary, that it assign the investigation to a neutral party, e.g. an OIG from another agency.”

Wertheimer is herself being investigated by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, in part over complaints that she bowed to pressure from Watt.

The White House has declined to comment on the allegations against Watt in the nearly four weeks since POLITICO revealed that he was under investigation for alleged sexual harassment.

In a statement last month, Watt said: "The selective leaks related to this matter are obviously intended to embarrass or to lead to an unfounded or political conclusion. However, I am confident that the investigation currently in progress will confirm that I have not done anything contrary to law."

According to Seltzer Torre’s letters on Monday, Watt has “declined to be interviewed or to provide a sworn declaration addressing Ms. Grimes’ allegations of wrongdoing.”

House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) announced this month that the committee would hold a hearing in September focused on oversight of the FHFA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The committee called on Watt to testify.