John Conyers and How Congress Covers Up Sexual Exploitation

If you saw my conversation with my board curmudgeon,  you would have seen I worked in the Halls of Congress for some years as part of my work for a computer manufacturer in my early career. So I am aware of the extent to which Congress excludes themselves from compliance with certain laws (like EEO) and covers up malfeasance.

If they are digging up Conyer’s dirt…

There is going to be hell on the Hill shortly – Because beside some of these guys, Conyers is a relative saint.

And Conyers ain’t no saint.

She Said A Powerful Congressman Harassed Her. Here’s Why You Didn’t Hear Her Story.

“When you make private settlements, it doesn’t warn the next woman or the next person going into that situation.”

Michigan Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 with a former employee who alleged she was fired because she would not “succumb to [his] sexual advances.”

Documents from the complaint obtained by BuzzFeed News include four signed affidavits, three of which are notarized, from former staff members who allege that Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff that included requests for sex acts, contacting and transporting other women with whom they believed Conyers was having affairs, caressing their hands sexually, and rubbing their legs and backs in public. Four people involved with the case verified the documents are authentic.

Conyers confirmed he made the settlement in a statement Tuesday afternoon, hours after this story was published, but said that he “vehemently denied” the claims of sexual harassment at the time and continues to do so.

And the documents also reveal the secret mechanism by which Congress has kept an unknown number of sexual harassment allegations secret: a grinding, closely held process that left the alleged victim feeling, she told BuzzFeed News, that she had no option other than to stay quiet and accept a settlement offered to her.

“I was basically blackballed. There was nowhere I could go,” she said in a phone interview. BuzzFeed News is withholding the woman’s name at her request because she said she fears retribution.

Last week the Washington Post reported that Congress’s Office of Compliance paid out $17 million for 264 settlements with federal employees over 20 years for various violations, including sexual harassment. The Conyers documents, however, give a glimpse into the inner workings of the office, which has for decades concealed episodes of sexual abuse by powerful political figures.

The woman who settled with Conyers launched the complaint with the Office of Compliance in 2014, alleging she was fired for refusing his sexual advances, and ended up facing a daunting process that ended with a confidentiality agreement in exchange for a settlement of more than $27,000. Her settlement, however, came from Conyers’ office budget rather than the designated fund for settlements.

Congress has no human resources department. Instead, congressional employees have 180 days to report a sexual harassment incident to the Office of Compliance, which then leads to a lengthy process that involves counseling and mediation, and requires the signing of a confidentiality agreement before a complaint can go forward.

After this an employee can choose to take the matter to federal district court, but another avenue is available: an administrative hearing, after which a negotiation and settlement may follow.

Some members of Congress have raised major concerns with the current system over the years, but the calls for an overhaul have grown louder in the post-Weinstein era. Members have argued that 90 days is too long to make a person continue working in the same environment with their harasser; that interns and fellows should be eligible to pursue complaints through this process; and that it is unfair for a victim to have to pay for legal representation while the office of the harasser is represented for free by the House’s counsel.

In this case, one of Conyers’ former employees was offered a settlement, in exchange for her silence, that would be paid out of Conyers’ taxpayer-funded office budget. His office would “rehire” the woman as a “temporary employee” despite her being directed not to come into the office or do any actual work, according to the document. The complainant would receive a total payment of $27,111.75 over the three months, after which point she would be removed from the payroll, according to the document.

Via documentcloud.org

The draft agreement viewed by BuzzFeed News was unsigned, but congressional employment records match the timing and amounts outlined in the document. The woman left the office and never went public with her story.

The process was “disgusting,” said Matthew Peterson, who worked as a law clerk representing the complainant, and who listed as a signatory to some of the documents.

“It is a designed cover-up,” said Peterson, who declined to discuss details of the case but agreed to characterize it in general terms. “You feel like they were betrayed by their government just for coming forward. It’s like being abused twice.”

Other lawyers named as representing the accuser could not be reached for comment. The Office of Compliance did not confirm or deny that it had dealt with the case.

“Pursuant to the Congressional Accountability Act, the OOC cannot comment on whether matters have or have not been filed with the office,” Laura Cech, publications and outreach manager of the Office of Compliance, told BuzzFeed News in an email when asked to comment on this case.

Two staffers alleged in their signed affidavits that Conyers used congressional resources to fly in women they believed he was having affairs with. Another said she was tasked with driving women to and from Conyers’ apartment and hotel rooms.

Rep. Conyers did not admit fault as part of the settlement. His office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Monday, but released a public statement on the matter Tuesday afternoon.

The documents were first provided to BuzzFeed News by Mike Cernovich, the men’s rights figure turned pro-Trump media activist who propagated a number of false conspiracy theories including the “Pizzagate” conspiracy. Cernovich said he gave the documents to BuzzFeed News for vetting and further reporting, and because he said if he published them himself, Democrats and congressional leaders would “try to discredit the story by attacking the messenger.” He provided them without conditions. BuzzFeed News independently confirmed the authenticity of the documents with four people directly involved with the case, including the accuser.

In her complaint, the former employee said Conyers repeatedly asked her for sexual favors and often asked her to join him in a hotel room. On one occasion, she alleges that Conyers asked her to work out of his room for the evening, but when she arrived the congressman started talking about his sexual desires. She alleged he then told her she needed to “touch it,” in reference to his penis, or find him a woman who would meet his sexual demands.

She alleged Conyers made her work nights, evenings, and holidays to keep him company.

In another incident, the former employee alleged the congressman insisted she stay in his room while they traveled together for a fundraising event. When she told him that she would not stay with him, she alleged he told her to “just cuddle up with me and caress me before you go.”

“Rep. Conyers strongly postulated that the performing of personal service or favors would be looked upon favorably and lead to salary increases or promotions,” the former employee said in the documents.

Three other staff members provided affidavits submitted to the Office Of Compliance that outlined a pattern of behavior from Conyers that included touching the woman in a sexual manner and growing angry when she brought her husband around.

One affidavit from a former female employee states that she was tasked with flying in women for the congressman. “One of my duties while working for Rep. Conyers was to keep a list of women that I assumed he was having affairs with and call them at his request and, if necessary, have them flown in using Congressional resources,” said her affidavit. (A second staffer alleged in an interview that Conyers used taxpayer resources to fly women to him.)

The employee said in her affidavit that Conyers also made sexual advances toward her: “I was driving the Congressman in my personal car and was resting my hand on the stick shift. Rep. Conyers reached over and began to caress my hand in a sexual manner.”

The woman said she told Conyers she was married and not interested in pursuing a sexual relationship, according to the affidavit. She said she was told many times by constituents that it was well-known that Conyers had sexual relationships with his staff, and said she and other female staffers felt this undermined their credibility.

“I am personally aware of several women who have experienced the same or similar sexual advances made towards them by Rep[.] John Conyers,” she said in her affidavit.

A male employee wrote that he witnessed Rep. Conyers rub the legs and other body parts of the complainant “in what appeared to be a sexual manner” and saw the congressman rub and touch other women “in an inappropriate manner.” The employee said he confronted Conyers about this behavior.

“Rep. Conyers said he needed to be ‘more careful’ because bad publicity would not be helpful as he runs for re-election. He ended the conversation with me by saying he would ‘work on’ his behavior,” the male staffer said in his affidavit.

The male employee said that in 2011 Conyers complained a female staffer was “too old” and said he wanted to let her go. The employee said he set up a meeting in December 2011 to discuss “mistreatment of staff and his misuse of federal resources.” The affidavit says that Conyers “agreed that he would work on making improvements as long as I worked directly with him and stopped writing memos and emails about concerns.”

Another female employee also attested that she witnessed Conyer’s advances, and said she was asked to transport women to him. “I was asked on multiple occasions to pick up women and bring them to Mr. Conyers[‘] apartment, hotel rooms, etc.”

BuzzFeed News reached out to several former Conyers staffers, all of whom did not want to speak on the record. One former staffer, who did not want to be named, said she was frustrated by the secretive complaint process.

“I don’t think any allegations should be buried…and that’s for anyone, not just for this particular office, because it doesn’t really allow other people to see who these individuals are,” said the former staffer. “When you make private settlements, it doesn’t warn the next woman or the next person going into that situation.”

Another staffer said Conyers’ reputation made people fearful to speak out against him. Aside from being the longest-serving House member and the ranking member of a powerful committee, Conyers is a civil rights icon. He was lauded by Martin Luther King Jr. and is a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“Your story won’t do shit to him,” said the staffer. “He’s untouchable.”

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was not aware of the settlement.

“The current process includes the signing of non-disclosure agreements by the parties involved. Congresswoman Jackie Speier has introduced legislation that will provide much-needed transparency on these agreements and make other critical reforms,” Pelosi said in the statement. “I strongly support her efforts.”…

 

1983 Racially Motivated Murder Finally Solved With Arrest of 2 Cops, and 3 Others in Georgia

Sometimes Justice is slow. Kudos to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for pursuing this one.

Timothy Collins murdered in 1983 by at least two white men, whose crimes were covered up by local cops.

 

Five arrested in Georgia — including two law enforcement officers — over 1983 murder of black man Timothy Coggins

A decades-old investigation in the U.S. state of Georgia into the murder of a black man in 1983 culminated in the arrest of five white people on Friday, including two law enforcement officers charged with hindering the probe, officials said.

The body of Timothy Coggins, 23, was found on Oct. 9, 1983, in a grassy area near power lines in the community of Sunnyside, about 30 miles (48 km) south of downtown Atlanta.

He had been “brutally murdered” and his body had signs of trauma, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Investigators spoke to people who knew Coggins, but the investigation went cold, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said at a news conference.

This past March, new evidence led investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Spalding County to re-examine the case.

Dix did not provide details on the nature of the evidence, saying more tips were received after authorities, over the summer, announced to the media the case was re-opened.

Some witnesses confessed they lived with knowledge about the case for years, but were afraid to come forward, Dix said.

“It has been an emotional roller coaster for everybody that was involved,” Dix said.

Police arrested five people on Friday in connection with the slaying. Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr, 58, were each charged with murder, aggravated assault and other crimes.

Authorities did not immediately say where Gebhardt and Moore lived.

Gregory Huffman, 47, was charged with obstruction and violation of oath of office, Dix said. Huffman was a detention officer with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office but his employment was terminated after he was arrested.

Lamar Bunn, a police officer in the town of Milner, which is south of Spalding County, was also arrested and charged with obstruction, as was Sandra Bunn, 58. She is Lamar’s mother, according to Atlanta television station WXIA.

Investigators are convinced the murder was racially motivated, Dix said.

“There is no doubt in the minds of all investigators involved that the crime was racially motivated and that if the crime happened today it would be prosecuted as a hate crime,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

Several members of Coggins’ family appeared at the news conference where authorities announced the arrests.

The family held out for justice all this time, said Heather Coggins, a niece of the victim.

“Even on my grandmother’s death bed, she knew that justice would one day be served,” she said.

It was not immediately clear if any of the five arrested people had an attorney, and they could not be reached for comment.

Dix promised more arrests in the case, as the investigation continues.

 

More Coverup By the Chumph

The Chumph ordered  his National Security heads to deny the Chumph-Russia collusion in the past election in ye another attempt at a cover-up of his traitorous relationship with the Russians. It raises questions as to whether evidence is being hidden, and who else the Chumph has told to keep quiet…

The other interesting thing about this is the wording that Coates and Rogers used…”not interfering in THEIR investigations.”

Add the NSA and National Intelligence to the people investigating the Chumph’s treason.

Trump ordered his top intelligence officials to refute Russia story: report

Dan Coats and Mike Rogers said they did not feel he was actively interfering in their investigations

During separate meetings last week with Senate investigators and the team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, President Donald Trump’s two top intelligence officials admitted that their commander-in-chief had asked them to publicly refute claims that his campaign had colluded with the Russian government.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers both said that they were uncomfortable by their conversations with Trump but did not feel they rose to the level of interference, according to a report by CNN. Multiple sources told the site that Coats and Rogers provided more details in private than they did in their public testimony on June 7. Specifically, they are reported to have told Mueller’s team that they were caught off-guard by Trump’s request that they publicly state he had not colluded with the Russian government.

Neither of them acted according to his request.

In similar news, President Barack Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff of California that he did not believe former FBI Director James Comey would have opened an investigation into the Trump campaign based on a mere hunch.

Johnson also defended the Obama administration’s decision not to inform the public of everything it knew about alleged hacking by the Russian government prior to the election. He felt that such a move may have been “unforgivable,” especially considering that one of the candidates was already claiming the election might be rigged (he did not mention Trump by name).

“A statement might be seen as challenging the integrity of the process itself,” Johnson argued.

 

Chumph Cover Up Assumes Absurd Dimensions

Asking the question – What if Obama had done this?

 

The Chumph Tried to Get Intelligence Heads to Roadblock Comey Investigation

Yet another attempt at cover up of the Russia-Trump election collusion. This time by trying to order the heads of intelligence agencies to clam up.

Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence

President Trump asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, according to current and former officials.

Trump made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.

Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private communications with the president.

Trump sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20 that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”

Trump’s conversation with Rogers was documented contemporaneously in an internal memo written by a senior NSA official, according to the officials. It is unclear if a similar memo was prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to document Trump’s conversation with Coats. Officials said such memos could be made available to both the special counsel now overseeing the Russia investigation and congressional investigators, who might explore whether Trump sought to impede the FBI’s work.

White House officials say Comey’s testimony about the scope of the FBI investigation upset Trump, who has dismissed the FBI and congressional investigations as a “witch hunt.” The president has repeatedly said there was no collusion.

Current and former senior intelligence officials viewed Trump’s requests as an attempt by the president to tarnish the credibility of the agency leading the Russia investigation.

A senior intelligence official said Trump’s goal was to “muddy the waters” about the scope of the FBI probe at a time when Democrats were ramping up their calls for the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel, a step announced last week.

Senior intelligence officials also saw the March requests as a threat to the independence of U.S. spy agencies, which are supposed to remain insulated from partisan issues.

“The problem wasn’t so much asking them to issue statements, it was asking them to issue false statements about an ongoing investigation,” a former senior intelligence official said of the request to Coats.

The NSA and Brian Hale, a spokesman for Coats, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

 

Trump Treason Insurance – A “Get Out of Hanging Free” Card

FBI Agents Worry White House Will Kneecap Russia Probe

The acting FBI director may promise that the investigation into Trump-Russia connections will continue. Many agents aren’t buying it.

On Tuesday night after James Comey got fired, FBI agents tasked with thwarting Russian intelligence operations started drinking.

Two well-connected former FBI employees told The Daily Beast that counterintelligence agents working on Russia desk based at FBI headquarters in downtown Washington met for drinks in the hours after their boss’s firing and shared their concerns: that they would be moved to another division, and that their work on the Russia issue wouldn’t be a priority anymore.

These are worries that have spread through the bureau in the days since Comey was fired: that the new administration will find ways to stymie investigations that could create political problems——especially on Russia. It’s a concern the president himself exacerbated in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt that aired Thursday evening.

“And in fact when I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won,’” the president said, discussing his reasoning for firing Comey.

Among current and former agents who worked on Russian counterintelligence, concern about political meddling is palpable.

“It’s complete bananas,” said one FBI source. “Management in counterintelligence are insanely concerned, worried about the overreaching obstruction and political influence from the White House.”

And a former high-ranking FBI official who worked on aspects of the case said there’s “no doubt the investigation can be damaged.”

“This particular case is within HQ with pieces in other field offices,” the source continued. “Hard to stop, but definitely subvert.”

The pace of the FBI’s Russian counterintelligence effort dramatically picked in recent weeks when the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn expanded to include his company’s work for the Turkish government, and a round of subpoenas were issued by a Virginia grand jury for related business and financial records. This stems from reports out of Turkey that Flynn had at some point attempted to return money he was paid for work he didn’t end up doing. That gave investigators a money trail to follow. Flynn reportedly failed to disclose this income when he was employed by the White House.

Two sources suggested that aspects of the larger investigation are focused on whether foreign influence was or is currently being exerted at the White House. It is unclear if this is specifically related to Flynn, or other aspects or targets of the case.

“It is not just a historical investigation,” said one former intelligence official who worked aspects of the early stages of the investigation.

Andrew McCabe, the bureau’s interim director, told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning that nothing would stop the investigation. But his confidence didn’t calm many nerves, in large part because there’s a broad consensus in Washington that his days at the bureau are numbered. In that same hearing, McCabe praised Comey and directly contradicted a White House spokesperson’s assertion that the FBI rank-and-file had turned on their former boss.

 

Trump Tries to Suppress FBI Investigation in Russian Hacking Election

Putin’ Bitch is trying to cover his tracks.

 

Things Getting Tough For Republicans at Town Hall Meetings Back Home

The natives are definitely getting restless with the cover-up of Chumph Treason and numerous illegal acts by Republicans in Congress. Perhaps enough white folks are getting pissed off that it may prove difficult to get reelected in even those scientifically tailored Gerrymandered white-wing districts?

‘Shame, shame!’: GOP aides booed at Georgia constituent meeting after refusing to take questions

Republicans across the country keep getting hammered by protesters who are upset that the party may repeal the Affordable Care Act without any kind of replacement.

On Friday morning, congressional aides for three key Georgia Republicans — U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Johnny Isakson, and Rep. Jody Hice — fled what was billed as a constituents services meeting after getting booed by protesters.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the aides to the lawmakers were overwhelmed when they saw dozens of protesters who were eager to make their voices heard on repealing Obamacare and other key issues.

“About a half-dozen congressional aides briefly addressed the crowd, telling them the event was not a town hall and they would take no questions from the floor,” the AJCreports. “They left after crowd members chanted ‘shame, shame, shame.’”

‘Do your job’: GOP’s Jason Chaffetz blistered by angry voters at town hall demanding Trump oversight

Hundreds of angry Utah residents packed a town hall hosted by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) — who hasn’t shown much enthusiasm for performing his oversight duties over the White House — and chanted “do your job.”

About 1,500 more people waited outside Brighton High School, holding signs that echoed the chants inside, along with others that read, “America is better than this,” reported The Salt Lake Tribune.

The hostile crowd of about 1,000 people, which the newspaper described as mostly political opponents of the Republican lawmaker, roared “explain yourself” at Chaffetz — and frequently interrupted to express their disapproval at his answers.

“If you want me to answer the question, give me more than five seconds to do it,” Chaffetz said at one point.

Attendees arrived early to get into the event, which they complained the GOP lawmaker had deliberately scheduled at a small venue to limit the pushback he expected to face.

Chaffetz addressed 13 questions, the newspaper reported.

Three of those focused on public lands and four on investigating President Donald Trump in the lawmaker’s role as chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

The other questions covered Planned Parenthood, air quality and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

According to news reports, Chaffetz met Tuesday with Trump and Reince Priebus, his White House chief of staff, and the president strongly cautioned the lawmaker against probing his actions as chief executive.

“Before my bum even hit the chair,” the president said no oversight; you can’t talk about anything that has to do with oversight and I said, ‘fair enough,” Chaffetz said, according to the Washington Examiner.

Chaffetz claimed the president encouraged him to investigate anything he wanted when they met a month earlier at the annual Republican retreat in Philadelphia.

The lawmaker said he was looking into comments made by Kellyanne Conway, the president’s senior advisor, who promoted clothing sold by Ivanka Trump during a Fox News interview.

“There’s no case to be made that we went soft on the White House,” Chaffetz told his constituents. “In terms of doing my job, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.”

One constituent, a woman from Salt Lake City, read Chaffetz’s own words back at him, when he called on all the presidential candidates to release their tax returns — which Trump still refuses to do.

“I’m asking you to explain what your timeline is to uphold your word or why there is a reluctance to do so,” said the woman, Melissa Batka Thomas.

Chaffetz told the woman the president was “exempt” from conflict of interest laws, which he has said before.

“Until there is evidence that he has somehow overused that to ingratiate his family …” Chaffetz said, but he was drowned out in a shower of boos.

 

Putin Covers His Tracks on US Election Hacking

In the days of communism in Russia, political prisoners were taken to the infamous Lubyanka  Prison by the KGB in the center of Moscow to be tortured and killed. The new KGB, now called the FSB occupies the same facility, and still does the work of the KGB under Putin.

There now is ample data to charge the Chumph with Treason. The reason that hasn’t happened is sell-out Republicans are blocking the investigations and Congressional action. It would seem that not only the Chumph is a Traitor.., but a number of Republicans in Congress.

The people being charged here helped the US Government identify the network of hackers who suborned the US election. From hacking Democrat email and servers, to manipulating the electronic voting machines in at least two states, and funding the Trump campaign with dirty money, the Russians went all out to install their boy – Putin’s Bitch as president.

These people were sold out by the Chumph.

Russian spies reportedly charged with treason, helping U.S.

Russian news agencies are reporting that former members of the domestic security agency and a cybersecurity expert have been formally charged with treason.

Reports emerged last week that three officials of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and an executive for cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs had been arrested for treason. Government officials haven’t commented on the case.

Speculation on the arrests ranges from fallout from alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential election to a power struggle within Russia’s security service

Ivan Pavlov, a lawyer specializing in treason cases, was quoted by the Interfax and state Tass news agencies as saying that FSB officials Sergei Mikhailov and Dmitry Dokuchayev, and Kaspersky’s Ruslan Stoyanov, were charged on Wednesday.

Pavlov has told The Associated Press that he represents the fourth, unnamed arrestee.

“Everyone involved in the case is charged with treason, and in fact, this is the only article, no other charges,” Pavlov is quoted as saying to Tass. Like Interfax, Tass is controlled by the Russian government.

According to Pavlov, the criminal case is being investigated by the FSB’s own Department of Investigation.

Men, women, and even children were tortured and murdered at Lubyanka. Some things seem not to have changed.

Investigators accuse the defendants of transferring Russian state secrets to U.S. intelligence services, according to Tass. Unlike previous reports in Russian media, the accounts citing Pavlov that were published Wednesday do not specify which U.S. agencies the suspects are accused of colluding with.

“The name of CIA does not appear in the case, only the country (is mentioned),” Tass quotes Pavlov as saying. “Yes, we are in fact talking about America, but not about the CIA.”

Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov denied any link between the people charged with treason and the Russian hacking of U.S. Democratic institutions in the run-up to the presidential election in November, which Moscow has also denied.

“No matters of this sort can have any relation to such absurd insinuations (of Russian cyber meddling in the U.S. election process) or, as we have already said, we categorically deny any assertions about the possible complicity of the Russian side in any hacking attacks,” Tass quoted Peskov as saying.

The Kremlin spokesman also said that while he could not confirm President Vladimir Putin was aware of all the details of the treason charges, “this issue is not for the first day discussed in the media, so along with the other materials, of course, these reports were presented to the president.”

 

White Boys Put Rope Around Neck of Black Girl and Drag Her

This one is unbelievable in today’s world – and even worse, the school is trying to cover it up.

White boys put rope around black girl’s neck and dragged her while school looked other way: lawsuit

A shocking lawsuit this week alleges that officials at the Live Oak Classical School in Waco, Tx. looked the other way after three white boys put a rope around a 12-year-old black girl’s neck and dragged her around.

WacoTrib.com reports that Levi McCathern, the attorney representing the girl’s family, alleges that the girl was continuously bullied even as school officials downplayed her treatment. The $3 million lawsuit alleges negligence, gross negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the school.

The alleged incident took place during a school field trip to the Germer Ranch. The girl was watching some of her fellow students play on a rope swing when she suddenly felt a rope go around her neck. She subsequently slipped and fell to the ground while three white boys pulled on the rope, McCathern alleges.

“It looked like somebody had ripped her neck apart and stitched it back together,” the girl’s mother, Sandy Rougely, told The Dallas Morning News.

For its part, the school has claimed that the entire incident was an accident and the boys were just being playful when they put a rope around the girl’s neck. The Daily Beast flags some recently released emails between Sandy Rougely and school dean Allison Buras that show Buras tried really hard to downplay the seriousness of the incident.

“It sounds like he may have pushed on the back of her leg to make her leg buckle, which is something the kids sometimes do,” Buras wrote in one email. “Rarely is that done out of meanness but more out of a desire for sport.”