NATION : Congressman Claims Ethics OK
Rep. Gus Savage (D-Ill.) said today that the House Ethics Committee has dismissed a complaint that he sexually assaulted a Peace Corps worker in Zaire, but there was no official confirmation from the panel.
Savage, a black Chicago Democrat, blamed a “racist attack” by white government officials and white-owned news media for the allegations.
A spokesman for the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct would not comment on Savage’s remarks, made in a House floor speech. The Chicago Tribune reported today that the committee issued a “letter of reproval” against Savage, the mildest sanction available to the panel.
The Peace Corps worker contended Savage fondled her for more than two hours in the back of a chauffeur-driven embassy car in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, last March, according to several government officials.
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