Hearing begins for lawmaker who shared rape accuser's name

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By REBECCA BOONE

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho lawmaker accused of violating ethics rules by publicizing the name of an alleged rape victim in disparaging social media posts — and then allegedly misleading lawmakers about her actions — said in an ethics hearing Monday that she did nothing wrong and claimed the allegations against her were politically motivated.

Republican Rep. Priscilla Giddings became the subject of two ethics complaints by about two dozen lawmakers after she publicized the rape accuser’s name, photo and personal details about her life in April by sharing links to an far-right news article on social media and in a newsletter to constituents.

The Legislature’s ethics committee scheduled the public hearing after finding probable cause that Giddings engaged in “conduct unbecoming a representative, which is detrimental to the integrity of the House as a legislative body.”

The lawmaker accused of raping the intern, Republican Aaron von Ehlinger, resigned earlier this year after the ethics committee recommended he be removed from the Statehouse. Von Ehlinger has denied all wrongdoing. The rape allegation is under investigation by police.



Republican Rep. Priscilla Giddings, left center in black, enters her ethics committee hearing Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, to applause and shouts of encouragement from supporters in the audience in Boise, Idaho. An Idaho lawmaker accused of violating ethics rules by publicizing the name of an alleged rape victim in disparaging social media posts, and then allegedly misleading lawmakers about her actions, said in an ethics hearing Monday that she did nothing wrong and claimed the allegations against her were politically motivated. (AP Photo/Rebecca Boone)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/media-social-media-idaho-boise-4377b520f82b478b85766338eb2f5dd7

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Craig Murray jailed over 'jigsaw identification' of women who accused Salmond of sexual assault

Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, has handed himself into police in Edinburgh as he faces an eight-month prison sentence.

The ex-diplomat, 62, arrived at St Leonard’s police station in Edinburgh on Sunday morning and was joined by family and supporters. Murray drank from what appeared to be a bottle of champagne and thanked the crowd for their attendance.

Murray was judged to have been in contempt of court over blogs he wrote during the trial of the former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond.

A court ruled in March that his blogposts contained details which, if pieced together, could lead readers to identify women who made allegations against Salmond, who was acquitted of all 13 charges including sexual assault and attempted rape in March last year.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/01/alex-salmond-blogger-craig-murray-hands-himself-into-police-to-begin-jail-term

A similar case.

[Warpy]

2. Good first step.

The lsander suit should be a real beaut.

This guy is WAY too stupid to be in politics.

[2Gingersnaps]

3. There should be a special place in hell for women

who enable men who abuse other women. It is bad enough when they are married to a bum and would have to get a job and support children by themselves, but when it is just for self interest and self promotion......soulless bitch.

[Lithos]

4. She is a candidate for Lt. Gov...

She also called the rape accuser of being a "honeypot" and pushing the blame back to her for this issue. Real RW nut-job.

[Grokenstein]

5. Also deserving of investigation: the activists who publicly harassed the rape victim

after Giddings revealed her identity.

https://apnews.com/article/idaho-ade08d8d48b315a3eb3deaff302c1bb4

One state representative sought a copy of the police report and made inquiries into how the young woman herself could be referred for criminal charges for reporting the alleged rape. Another shared links to a far-right blog post that included the intern’s name, photo and personal details about her life with thousands of people in a newsletter and on social media.

And members of a far-right, anti-government activist group tried to follow and harass the young woman after she was called to testify in a legislative public ethics hearing.

“I can take criticism. I can take people laying out their opinion on me,” the intern told The Associated Press in a phone interview Sunday evening. “But this, it’s just overwhelming.”

[BlueIdaho]

6. This is sadly all too typical

For the FreeDumb Foundation run Idaho Republican Party. This den of vipers is as vile a bunch as you will ever likely meet. I hope the whole bunch rot in hell.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. I wish they'd say "revealed" rather than "shared". It makes it sound like they have the same name.nt