The House Ethics Committee investigated Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) in 2023 over allegations that he made unwanted advances toward two female congressional interns.

According to NOTUS, a former House Democratic staffer filed a complaint with ethics officials in 2023 alleging that Costa behaved inappropriately and made advances toward her in February 2020 while she was an intern for a different lawmaker.

The woman also alleged that she witnessed Costa behave inappropriately with another female intern in December 2021.

Ultimately, nothing amounted from the probe and the committee dismissed the case.

NOTUS shared further:

The woman recounted that Costa made her “uncomfortable,” in a virtual interview with Office of Congressional Ethics staff in June 2023.

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NOTUS obtained a 98-page transcript of the interview and spoke with the woman and three people familiar with the accusations, all of whom were granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive matter. The investigation has not been previously reported. Investigations conducted by the Office of Congressional Conduct — at the time called the Office of Congressional Ethics — must be made public unless both the OCC and the Ethics Committee move to dismiss the case, which it did in the case of Costa.

The woman did not report Costa until about three years after the incident, when she had a more secure staff position in Congress and wasn’t “scared about my job,” she told NOTUS.

“Eventually, I was like, you know what? I have enough cachet,” she said.

“Rep. Costa fully cooperated with a review conducted by the Office of Congressional Compliance and the House Committee on Ethics several years ago. The OCC recommended dismissal, and the Ethics Committee unanimously voted to dismiss the matter,” Costa’s office said in a statement shared with the New York Post.

“All ethics complaints should always be taken seriously,” the statement added.

More from the New York Post:

The first woman alleged to ethics officials that Costa, then 67, approached her, a 22-year-old intern, at an event hosted by a California nonprofit as she was leaving. Costa asked her why she was going home and insisted she stay and dance, the woman alleged.

“I was like, ‘I’ve already danced.’ He’s like, ‘Well, I didn’t dance with you,’” the woman, who now works as a lobbyist, claimed.

After she repeatedly declined, she alleged that Costa awkwardly asked the intern to “shimmy” with her, so the two did so in the checked bag area.

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“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 alleged.

Then, Costa allegedly told the intern he could help her with her congressional career and gave his personal number.

“He just said ‘I would love to help you with your career. Let’s get dinner.’ Which when it comes from a powerful man, does not mean I want to help you,” the woman claimed in her interview with ethics officials. “I’m not dumb. I knew what it meant.”

The next day, she bumped into Costa again, who allegedly inquired why the intern didn’t give him a text and asked if she had a boyfriend. She alleged that he asked her to send her resume to his chief of staff.

The intern eventually did, she said, because she felt “if I didn’t do these things, my career would be ruined.”

 

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