Huckleberries Online

McGee Quits Over Harassment Claims

Posted by DFO

Feb. 22, 2012 3:45 p.m. • 16 comments

The three remaining Senate GOP leaders — Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, Majority Leader Bart Davis, and Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder — have announced to a packed press conference that Sen. John McGee (pictured) has resigned from the Senate in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment of a Senate attache. Hill said the harassment charges are being investigated by the Idaho Attorney General, and the attache, a woman who is not a minor, is on paid leave. McGee, R-Caldwell, is a fourth term state senator and also is the chairman of the Canyon County Republican Central Committee. A former aide to then-Sen. and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, McGee, 39, is the marketing director for West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell, and is married with two young children. He was widely viewed as a rising star in the Idaho GOP before the bizarre incident last June in which he was arrested and convicted of drunken driving/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

John McGee's letter of resignation/Eye On Boise
Idaho Statesman version of the story
Pile on most of Senate leadership but not John McGee/Dennis Mansfield
Eye On Boise: House emerges from brief caucus on Senate matter

Question: About time?

16 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Digger on February 22 at 1:49 p.m.
Oh, if we could only be so lucky.
Phaedrus on February 22 at 2:20 p.m.
Press conference at 3:30

Popcorn, please.
Sisyphus on February 22 at 2:24 p.m.
Betsy says the Presser is in ww53. That room has live streaming you can access here. http://www.idahoptv.org/leglive/
greenlibertarian on February 22 at 2:36 p.m.
Wow, after everything that’s already happened.

Why is he resigning now?
Sisyphus on February 22 at 2:52 p.m.
The rumor is a sexual harassment lawsuit. I found a legal action with his name on it in Canyon County, but it is devoid of opposing party or any other detail.
Sisyphus on February 22 at 2:56 p.m.
Man that presser is taking forever.
DennisMansfield on February 22 at 3:05 p.m.
That is the reason I heard as well, but have not posted anything on it, as I do not have proof - right now.
duroc on February 22 at 3:06 p.m.
What the heck? This is bizarre. Why now, after all this time? Any hard evidence of sexual harassment, Sisyphus?
Sisyphus on February 22 at 3:08 p.m.
Just starting.
Sisyphus on February 22 at 3:12 p.m.
Senate leadership press conference reports allegations by senate attache of sexual harassment.
greenlibertarian on February 22 at 3:35 p.m.
Hmmm, I might have thought the harassee was a male, McGee does have a purty face.

Where there’s smoke, there’s a raging wildfire.
JohnA on February 22 at 3:57 p.m.
Oh, the old female ‘attache’ strikes again. That seems appropriate if McGee wanted to be attache’d to her.
Digger on February 22 at 4:01 p.m.
Pages can be 18….which is legal… and traditional for Idaho Senators. :-P
Wally on February 22 at 4:03 p.m.
The ethical train wreck that is the Idaho Republican Party has just lost another car yet it steams onward, running roughshod over the citizenry.

Remember, Idaho, only you can prevent Republican scallywags from turning your state in their own personal playground.
Dennis on February 22 at 4:09 p.m.
Pages can be 18….

Seems pretty young to be a “Dirty Old Man”.
JamesBond on February 22 at 4:35 p.m.
Damn, he needed to put more time between the DUI and the harassment! You need a period of goodness inbetween.

Oh well, we are getting to the point where just about all of the tax-and-spend, Rockefeller-esque, country clubbish Dirk Kempthorne proteges are about gone from state politics. McGee was one of his star proteges.

« Back to Huckleberries Online

You must be logged in to post comments.
Please create a profile or log in here.

About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.