House ethics officials investigated Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) after allegations surfaced that the congressman made inappropriate advances toward two congressional interns, according to documents and interviews obtained by Washington-based news outlet NOTUS.
The allegations stem from a complaint filed in early 2023 by a former House Democratic staffer who said Costa behaved inappropriately with her in February 2020, when she was a 22-year-old intern for another lawmaker. The same woman also reported witnessing Costa act inappropriately with another female intern in December 2021.
Inside the allegations: In a June 2023 virtual interview with staff from the Office of Congressional Ethics, the woman told investigators that Costa made her “uncomfortable.”
- “Eventually, I was like, you know what? I have enough cachet,” she told the online pub, explaining why she decided to report the incident after moving into a more secure staff position.
- According to a transcript obtained by NOTUS, the intern recalled an encounter at a Feb. 5, 2020, event hosted by the California State Society.
- Costa, then 67, allegedly asked the intern, “Are you here alone?… Don’t you want to dance?… Well, I didn’t dance with you.” The woman said Costa repeatedly asked her to return and dance and asked if she “knew how to shimmy.”
- “Every time I leaned back, it seemed like he got farther forward. So I was grateful that I could do a back bend. It was a very uncomfortable situation,” she recounted. She added, “That’s a scary situation. Especially when you’re an intern and you don’t know what relationships that you could mess up.”
- The woman also said Costa offered to help her career and wrote his personal phone number on a business card, inviting her to dinner.
- “When it comes from a powerful man, does not mean I want to help you. It means what will you give me in return. Which I don’t know. I’m not dumb. I knew what it meant,” she said.
- A man who witnessed the exchange told the woman to “be careful what you do with that phone number. Nobody cares who you date in DC unless you’re dating your boss.” The witness told NOTUS, “What I saw was so wrong.”
- The woman later described feeling pressure to maintain the communication, fearing damage to her career if she did not. “If I didn’t do these things, my career would be ruined,” she told investigators.
- Text messages reviewed by NOTUS confirm that Costa invited the woman to dinner. After she declined, he did not respond further.
The big picture: The House Ethics Committee has not publicly addressed the investigation prior to this reporting. House rules prohibit romantic relationships between members and their staff.
- When approached for comment about whether she confided in any other lawmakers, the woman said she told Rep. Ami Bera, (D-Elk Grove), about the incident.
- Bera’s office said he had “no recollection of this happening,” and that “had an intern approached him about this, his advice unequivocally would have been for the individual to file a formal complaint.”
- The Ethics Committee has reportedly not reached out to Bera regarding these allegations.
The big picture: Investigations into lawmakers by the Office of Congressional Conduct and the House Ethics Committee are typically made public unless both panels move to dismiss the case, which is what occurred with the complaints against Costa.
What they’re saying: “Rep. Costa fully cooperated with a review conducted by [OCC] and the House Committee on Ethics several years ago,” Costa spokeswoman Lisa Ortiz told the publication in a statement. “The OCC recommended dismissal, and the Ethics Committee unanimously voted to dismiss the matter… The actions of the OCC and the Ethics Committee speak for themselves.”
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