Ranting On...Elizabeth Esty

Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT)

Since January, I have oftentimes thought about the resignation of Al Franken.  At the time, I remember having very uncomfortable conversations with my progressive friends, many of whom are politically active and felt that Franken was the victim of a "hatchet job," a right-wing conspiracy executed with shocking precision by Roger Stone.  As I'm a Minnesotan and very politically-active, Franken had been a part of my daily conversation for a decade at that point, and I'd voted for him in two general elections at the time of his resignation, and stumped for him on more than one occasion (and written him a couple of checks).  I was, admittedly, not as big of a fan of his as some of my friends, but I felt bad to see his career go down in the way that his did, particularly considering the egregious (and unpunished) sins of people like Donald Trump or Eric Greitens, who still loom large in the GOP.  But I felt that it was necessary to show that the Democrats stand tall against sexual harassment & sexual misconduct, and while Franken's sins might not matter in the GOP, they should matter in my party, and I was comfortable holding my party to a higher standard (though any Republican who says literally anything against Franken can go suck a lemon if they haven't said the exact same things about Trump, Moore, Greitens, Gianforte, etc).  It's also the reason I thought it was necessary for John Conyers and Ruben Kihuen to resign as well.

And it's why I think it's time for Elizabeth Esty to resign from Congress.  Esty, a third-term congresswoman from Connecticut, is embroiled in a massive scandal involving her former chief of staff, Tony Baker.  Baker was not fired by the congresswoman despite the fact that a woman on her staff, Anna Kain, punched, harassed, and even threatened to kill her.  Esty later gave him a $5k severance package and a recommendation to work with the Sandy Hook Promise.  This is despite the fact that Esty has been an outspoken advocate for the #MeToo, and has been a strong advocate on women's issues on the hill.

Esty's situation in many ways reminds me of the Trump administration, and I suspect for fans of hers, particularly those in the Connecticut party, a resignation may be a hard pill to swallow in the same way that the Franken resignation was for Democrats in Minnesota (ditto Conyers/Michigan).  After all, John Kelly & Don McGahn still have jobs despite having employed Rob Porter, who was accused of domestic abuse by both of his ex-wives.  Porter, who was President Trump's White House Staff Secretary, was (according to the Washington Post) kept on by Chief of Staff John Kelly and even promoted despite the fact that there were credible accusations from his ex-wives stating he had physically and emotionally abused them.  Porter eventually resigned (as did Baker), but like Esty, Kelly currently still holds his office, as does Don McGahn despite their knowledge of their employees' predatory behavior that may have endangered some of his other employees (after all, another of Kelly's employees, Hope Hicks, was reportedly dating Rob Porter at the time).

So it might be easy for Democrats to throw out the "they do it too" claim when it comes to Esty.  After all, her seat would certainly become more competitive were this scandal to gain traction (this is the most conservative of Connecticut's five congressional districts), and why should Kelly get to stay on as Chief of Staff but the Democrats once again have to take the high-ground with one of their progressive activists?  It's not a question without merit; indeed, part of me is frustrated by the rank hypocrisy of the right when it comes to "they do it too!" ignoring the systemic abuse that has permeated the highest-ranks of the GOP.

But I also think it's time that we start to hold both parties to a high standard, and I am not comfortable with voting for someone like Esty after what she did.  Every person makes mistakes, and what she did may not have been a criminal action, but she knowingly left a woman on her staff vulnerable to attack, and helped to aid a man she knew to be violent in getting employment somewhere else.  That's unacceptable regardless of political party, and as a Democrat, I don't think that a public official should sport my party ID and also have enabled an abuser.  It's easy for me to disassociate with Donald Trump (because I didn't vote for him and think he should resign), but if Esty stays on and Democrats continue to support her, it's condoning what she did, and that's wrong.  It's certainly not fair to have Esty resign and not Kelly resign (and for the record, I think they both should resign), but we cannot say that we want to start a truly new conversation about domestic abuse and sexual harassment while allowing Esty's hypocrisy to go unpunished.  When it's a Republican, I can at least take satisfaction in knowing that I can support the Democrat running against them, but with Esty, someone I surely would have voted for last November were I in the district, keeping her on sends a signal we only care about abuse when it's politically expedient.  That's unacceptable, and considering her stances in the past, something Rep. Esty likely would objectively agree to were it not hurting her career.  As a result, it's time for her to resign.