新当选众议员波因德克斯特被指性骚扰，民主党国会竞选委员会聘独立机构调查
华盛顿—据CNN与Politico报道，美国民主党国会竞选委员会（DCCC）11月13日证实，已聘请一家独立第三方机构，调查新当选联邦众议员布莱恩·波因德克斯特（Brian Poindexter）被指在竞选期间性骚扰一事。提出指控的是一名曾为其竞选团队工作的女性，她称波因德克斯特在竞选期间对她作出了带有性骚扰性质的言论；应她本人要求，她的身份和指控的具体内容都没有公开。
波因德克斯特现年47岁，在11月3日的中期选举中赢得俄亥俄州第七国会选区，击败共和党现任众议员马克斯·米勒（Max Miller）。DCCC执行主任朱莉·默茨（Julie Merz）在声明中表示：「DCCC已经知悉这些指控，我们认真对待。出于对各方公平的考虑，我们已经聘请一家独立第三方机构，调查任何不当行为、开展访谈并查清事实。」她说，调查将做到迅速、彻底、透明，调查结束后DCCC将进一步评论。
最先向DCCC通报此事的，是蓝狗联盟政治行动委员会和国会进步党团政治行动委员会。两家机构在联合声明中说，他们在竞选最后几天得知这项指控报告，随即通知DCCC，并为投诉人联系了法律倡导和支持服务，由她自己决定如何处理；两家机构已经撤回对波因德克斯特的背书，等调查完成。声明说，投诉人要求不公开指控细节，是因为她不想让自己的身份曝光，希望先决定自己如何往下走。
波因德克斯特竞选团队发言人表示，波因德克斯特当时对一名志愿者说了一句他自己觉得无伤大雅的恭维话，后来听说这让对方感到不适，他「非常难过」；他一得知此事，竞选团队就立即请来外部人力资源公司着手查清情况，并称波因德克斯特和竞选团队都不希望任何人感到不舒服。
目前，这项调查仍在进行，尚无任何机构作出事实认定，相关指控未经证实。波因德克斯特在竞选中得到参议员伯尼·桑德斯（Bernie Sanders）的背书支持；他击败的米勒此前也曾被指控虐待前妻，米勒的前妻是参议员伯尼·莫雷诺（Bernie Moreno）的女儿。
（来源：民主党国会竞选委员会）
Congressman-Elect Poindexter Faces Sexual Harassment Allegation; DCCC Hires Independent Firm to Investigate
WASHINGTON — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) confirmed on November 13 that it has hired an independent, third-party firm to investigate an allegation of sexual harassment against Congressman-elect Brian Poindexter during his campaign, according to CNN and Politico. The allegation comes from a woman who worked on his campaign, who says Poindexter made sexually harassing comments toward her during the race. At her request, neither her identity nor the specifics of the allegation have been made public.
Poindexter, 47, won Ohio's 7th Congressional District in the November 3 midterm elections, defeating Republican Representative Max Miller. "The DCCC has been made aware of the allegations and takes them seriously," DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement. "In the interest of fairness to all parties involved, we have hired an independent, third-party firm to investigate any instance of inappropriate behavior, conduct interviews and gather the facts." She said the investigation would be swift, thorough and transparent, and that the DCCC would comment further once it is complete.
The DCCC was alerted by the Blue Dog PAC and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC. In a joint statement, the two groups said they became aware of a report of alleged sexual harassment in the final days of the campaign, informed the DCCC, and connected the woman with legal advocacy and support services so she could decide how she wanted to proceed. Both groups have pulled their endorsements of Poindexter pending the outcome of the investigation. They said the complainant asked that details not be disclosed publicly because she did not want her identity to become public and wanted time to decide how to proceed.
A spokesperson for Poindexter's campaign said he had given what he thought was an innocuous compliment to a volunteer, later heard that it made her feel uncomfortable, and "felt awful." The campaign said that as soon as he learned of it, it engaged an outside human-resources firm to get to the bottom of the matter, and that neither Poindexter nor the campaign ever wants anyone to feel uncomfortable.
The investigation is ongoing. No finding has been made, and the allegation remains unproven. Poindexter was backed by Senator Bernie Sanders; Miller, the incumbent he defeated, had himself faced allegations of abusing his ex-wife, a daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno.
(Source: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee)
来源：民主党国会竞选委员会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
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