How some are using the #MeToo movement for their own personal gain

By: Hassan Giordano

Earlier this year, this reporter broke the news in regards to a plot to change the leadership of the Baltimore City House Delegation, without the knowledge or consent of quite a few of its members. Included in this April write-up, I also was the first news outlet to acknowledge the news that the Chairman of that very delegation was being accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and misconduct, an issue that was, and currently still is, pending before the state’s Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics.

The information regarding these women, who each reported their own individual accounts of alleged sexual interactions with Delegate Curt Anderson, a democrat who represents Baltimore City’s 43rd legislative district, was filed in January of this year as the #MeToo movement became prominent across the country. And yet, the article and issue surrounding the political coup that Anderson and others were attempting during the session, did not warrant a response from some of the very “political activists and groups” who are now using Anderson’s situation for their own personal and political gain, rather than genuinely acting in the best interest of the women involved.

One of the Anderson accusers, a former supporter of my political campaign who entrusted me with the information she revealed to investigators working on behalf of the ethics committee investigation, said that no one vocalizing their recent advocacy even tried uncovering the names and information of those who have been affected by Anderson’s alleged behavior. And even when the Baltimore Sun finally decided to report on this ongoing investigation, in June of this year, these same "concerned" activists and groups were silent as to the need for true reform within the political process, and in changing the “Good Ole Boys Club” culture of Annapolis.

In fact, the only person to speak out against the atrocities in both my article and the Sun’s report was then senatorial candidate, Delegate Mary Washington, whose op-ed was made available on social media, and articulated in such a fashion that it spoke both to the need of addressing the underlining issue at hand, as well as her allegations of Anderson’s 43rd district colleagues being complicit in his actions by not completely disavowing him and his candidacy during the recent election.

And still, not a peep from any of these “concerned activists” who are now calling for Anderson to resign, or for the democratic leaders in Annapolis to expedite the ethics process and/or force Anderson not to accept the democratic nomination he earned by garnering the support of 7,886 district voters, who decided to elect him as one of three House members representing them in Annapolis over the next four years.

The fact that you have individuals who are suddenly now calling on House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas ‘Mike’ Miller to intervene in the ethic committee’s investigative process, in order to have them expedite the findings for what these “concerned activists” believe will be a favorable report for them and one that finds Anderson guilty of such charges, only speaks to their ignorance of a process that was designed to not allow for such outside influencers to have undue authority or to unjustly pressure the members of this committee into finding one way or the other.

These would be the very same folks who scream foul to high heaven if in fact these political leaders they are now calling on, were able to intervene in order to sweep these serious charges under the rug for their elected colleague; so why would you think calling on them to intervene on your behalf now is a necessary action that in any way, shape or form benefits the women who have had to live with these alleged incidents for years?

And why are these “concerned citizens” so vocal now, months after the initial DMVDaily report, and weeks after the Baltimore Sun article? Maybe because those responsible for perpetuating this false narrative of imminent danger by Anderson, are citizens of the 43rd district – some of them members of the district’s state central committee – who will undoubtedly benefit from Anderson’s resignation or forced removal by way of trying to get appointed to his seat, something they couldn’t garner by way of the normal election process. So now, they’d rather rely on garnering four of seven central committee votes, rather than trying to receive a majority of the 61,610 democratic voters of the 43rd district.

(Mind you, none of these folks calling for an expedited decision by the ethics committee, or for Anderson’s immediate resignation, are any of the women who have filed the sexual harassment complaints against him; which further proves that these latest efforts are more of a show by those looking to benefit from Anderson’s removal and by making themselves known and/or relative, rather than seeking justice on behalf of these brave and courageous women, who after years of having to live with such “shame”, now were able to face their fears and alleged abuser.)

So when does one’s personal agenda begin to blur the lines of the true agenda of the people? We have to do better, and begin to demand better from those seeking to call attention to issues of such importance that it sparked a national movement that was long overdue. However, we should never be okay with allowing individuals or groups, regardless of their gender, to begin to exploit these efforts by trying to expedite the findings of guilt, simply by playing off the emotions of sympathy and disgust – which these allegations stir up in the most rationale-minded human being - for one’s own personal and political gain.