California Democrat Rep. Jim Costa faced a probe over allegations that he made inappropriate advances toward interns, according to a new report.
A former House Democrat staffer filed a complaint in 2023 accusing Costa of making unwanted advances toward her in February 2020 when she interned for a different lawmaker, NOTUS reported Monday. The complaint was later dismissed by the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Conduct after they found they did not have sufficient evidence to proceed.
The revelation comes amid a flurry of sexual misconduct claims involving members of Congress. Former Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) resigned last month over claims of sexual misconduct. Costa has denied any suggestion of wrongdoing, pointing to the conclusions of ethics investigators.
One incident involving Costa allegedly took place during an event at the California State Society when the woman was 22, and he was 67. The woman told the Office of Congressional Conduct that Costa approached her outside the event as she got ready to leave and tried to get her to stay before he asked her to dance with him.
“First, he greeted me, and then said, are you here alone? I said, yes. I said, I’m waiting for my bag. I’m going home. He said, oh no, why would you go home? It’s such a nice night. Don’t you want to dance? I was like, I’ve already danced. He’s like, well, I didn’t dance with you,” she told investigators.
The woman then said he asked her if she “knew how to shimmy.” She said she did, and they danced while she waited to leave.
“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 said.
“That’s a scary situation. Especially when you’re an intern and you don’t know what relationships that you could mess up,” she added. “Yeah, I guess he started the conversation. I was gracious and responded. And then he immediately asked me to shimmy. I don’t know about you, but it’s a very sexual and awkward dance move.”
The woman later claimed that Costa gave her his personal cell phone number and told her he could help with her career or grab dinner sometime. During a later encounter, the woman said that he asked if she was dating and later ghosted her after she proposed they meet for coffee instead of dinner.
The woman told NOTUS she only filed the complaint when she felt like her career had enough “cachet” to survive any fallout. She also recounted another incident where he allegedly danced closely with another young intern at a California State Society event. The woman said she and another person broke up the dancing.
Costa’s office pointed NOTUS to the dismissal of the allegations by ethics investigators.
“Rep. Costa fully cooperated with a review conducted by [OCC] and the House Committee on Ethics several years ago. The OCC recommended dismissal, and the Ethics Committee unanimously voted to dismiss the matter,” his office said. “The actions of the OCC and the Ethics Committee speak for themselves.”
Four decades ago, Costa issued an apology after he was cited for soliciting a prostitute while traveling in a state-leased vehicle with a prostitute, the Los Angeles Times reported.
.png)
.png)
