by Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle
October 7, 2024
A top staffer for Democratic congressional candidate Janelle Bynum’s rival in the May primary filed a complaint this summer alleging that Bynum turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and assault by an operative assigned to her 2022 legislative campaign.
The third-party complaint was first reported over the weekend by Fox News, which underlined the importance of the race. Bynum is challenging first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District in a contest that could determine which party next controls the U.S. House.
National Republicans and Democrats are supporting their candidates in the race, which appears to be a tie, according to recent polls.
Fox News did not name the complainant, who did not experience or observe firsthand any of the alleged behavior. The Capital Chronicle obtained an unredacted version of the complaint, filed with Oregon’s legislative equity office on July 15 by Kelie McWilliams. McWilliams was the campaign manager for Jamie McLeod-Skinner, Bynum’s opponent in this year’s hotly contested Democratic primary.
“During the 2024 primary election, I was contacted by an informant with information about Rep. Bynum and her willful coverup of a sexual assault of a minor volunteer who worked for her campaign during the 2022 cycle,” McWilliams wrote in the complaint. “During the campaign, I was not in a position to do anything with this information and didn’t want to taint a potential investigation. It has continued to weigh on my conscience so I’m turning it over to the Legislature to deal with internally.”
McWilliams told the Capital Chronicle in a written statement that she received credible information earlier this year about a young woman who was sexually assaulted while volunteering for Bynum’s 2022 campaign, and that the woman did not want to be named.
The accused perpetrator, who was employed by Oregon House Democrats’ campaign committee, FuturePAC, as a field director on Bynum’s campaign, was 22 at the time of the alleged assault and is now 24.
“As a survivor myself, as a mother who wants a safer world for her children and as a Democrat committed to justice, I couldn’t remain silent,” McWilliams told the Capital Chronicle. “I reported the incident to the Legislative Equity Office because I refuse to turn a blind eye. Sexual harassment and violence transcend politics; they are deeply personal and painful realities for nearly every woman I know. We are continuously let down by a system that struggles to hold perpetrators accountable. Oregon women — and all women — deserve better.”
Complaint dismissed
The complaint named the alleged culprit but did not offer details about his alleged behavior. It was filed under the Legislature’s Rule 27, which lawmakers passed during the #MeToo movement to govern harassment, discrimination and retaliation in legislative business. Legislative Equity Officer Bor Yang did not respond to a voicemail or email from the Capital Chronicle about the complaint, but she emailed Bynum on Sept. 20 to confirm that Bynum was not under investigation.
“You are not being investigated by the Legislative Equity Office,” Yang wrote in an email obtained by the Capital Chronicle.
McWilliams also shared emails from Yang, in which Yang said she would not investigate the complaint or disclose it as a public record because McWilliams was neither the impacted party nor a witness. On Monday afternoon, a legislative attorney denied a public records request for the complaintfrom the Capital Chronicle, saying that no disclosable records existed.
Oregon State Police Capt. Kyle Kennedy said the agency also received a complaint related to the case and is investigating but declined to comment further.
Bynum’s campaign spokesperson Blakely Wall called the complaint a smear attempt and said Bynum expected the House Democratic caucus’ campaign arm, FuturePAC, to handle the accusations. FuturePAC, which hires employees to work for House Democrats’ campaigns, hired the accused staffer at the center of the complaint as Bynum’s field director. That man and similar employees are paid by FuturePAC, report to FuturePAC and are employed under a collective bargaining agreement.
“This attempt to smear Rep. Bynum is not based in reality,” Wall said. “As a mom of two young women and a legislator who has spent her career advocating for others, Rep. Bynum takes this subject personally — which is why she flagged these accusations directly to the accuser’s employer, FuturePAC, as soon as she was made aware of them after the 2022 election. It’s also why she’s openly aided the Legislative Equity Office’s investigation into the matter. Rep. Bynum expected FuturePAC to deal with these accusations fairly and swiftly and to ensure their employees’ well-being and safety. If FuturePAC did anything less, that is unacceptable.”
FuturePAC executive director Hannah Howell said the organization can’t comment on individual personnel matters, but that no complaints were made in the 2022 election cycle that would have triggered an investigation.
“Our union contract agreement with the Campaign Workers Guild requires official complaints and investigations to be handled through FuturePAC — campaigns and candidates are not allowed to be responsible for investigations of any workplace conduct,” Howell said.
Missing details
The complaint and supporting documents attached to it don’t include information about an alleged assault of a minor during the 2022 legislative campaign. Instead, it included several screenshots of 2019 Twitter posts of young women in the Vancouver, Washington, area discussing the behavior of the man named in the complaint, including allegedly soliciting nude photos from a 14-year-old when he was 18 and offering to buy a 16-year-old dinner in exchange for sex when he was 19.
Oregon’s age of consent for sexual activity is 18. Washington’s is 16, with the added requirement that 16- and 17-year-olds cannot have a partner more than five years older than them.
The Capital Chronicle is not naming the man because the complaint was filed by a third party, lacks details, was dropped by the legislative equity office, no criminal charges have been filed and because he could not be reached.
McWilliams’ complaint also included photos of a phone displaying text messages between another FuturePAC employee assigned to manage Bynum’s 2022 campaign and FuturePAC’s campaign services director. The campaign manager wrote shortly after the 2022 election that he was going to tell Bynum about his colleague’s behavior “at some point, because she should know, and when I get a job in Salem I don’t want to have to deal with that kid.” The complaint also contained screenshots of texts between the field director and another volunteer talking about how young women had blocked him on social media.
FuturePAC’s campaign services director told Bynum’s campaign manager that FuturePAC would tell Bynum. Two days later, the campaign manager sent another text asking for an update and noting that the field director was getting a job with an unnamed state representative. The field director worked part-time for Democratic Rep. Thuy Tran of Portland in 2024, legislative employment records show.
By Nov. 21, 2022, the campaign manager had told Bynum, according to the complaint. It included a photo of a text between Bynum and that employee, in which the employee wrote: “Well as unfortunate as this may be for you or (the field director), I am NOT sitting by while someone like this gets off scott free treating young women abusively like that. If he gets a job down there this won’t be the last you hear of it, I promise.”
Bynum responded: “Are you threatening me?”
The former employee replied: “Woah. Easy there. I am promising you and anyone else that I am not ok with someone treating young women like that.”
Bynum replied, “I’ll consider reporting your actions. Thank you for letting me know.”
McWilliams did not file her complaint until two months after the primary ended. Minutes after the Fox News article published, McWilliams posted to her Facebook page a video of a song called “Burning Down.”
“The last 24 hours have been the hardest of my life as things I’d always assumed were constant have fallen down around me,” she wrote. “At the end of the day, I’ll do what’s right, no matter the cost and no matter who walks away.”
Republicans condemn news, Democrats defend Bynum
Legislative Republicans including House Minority Leader Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, issued statements about the complaint Monday.
“Yet another scandal emerges under one-party Democrat (sic) rule in Oregon,” Helfrich said. “And once again, those responsible are pointing fingers instead of taking accountability. The allegations of sexual impropriety and systemic failure to protect victims within the Democrat political machine are disturbing and, if true, unacceptable.”
Former House Republican Leader Christine Drazan called it a “political coverup of potential criminal misconduct.” Drazan, who lost the 2022 gubernatorial election to Democrat Tina Kotek, is on track to return to the state House next year as she’s unopposed in her race for a Canby-area House seat.
“It’s an outright failure to protect a minor in an incredibly vulnerable situation,” Drazan said. “They deserved better. Women in Oregon deserve better. It should not be lost on anyone that, if not for media reports, Janelle Bynum and House Democrats would have been content to completely sweep these serious allegations under the rug.”
Bynum’s backers issued statements defending her. A spokesperson for EMILYs List, the organization that supports Democratic female candidates who support abortion rights, said Bynum has been a steadfast advocate for Oregonians throughout her career.
“Throughout this election, Republicans have shamefully tried to smear Bynum’s record and this is just their latest attempt to distract from the extremist agenda Lori Chavez-DeRemer and her MAGA allies are pushing,” the statement continued. “We are proud to stand by Bynum and we are confident she will continue to stand up for Oregonians against Republican extremism.”
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Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: [email protected]. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and X.