Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Scandalous as the allegations of sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore have been, to my eye the most scandalous revelation has been that millions of dollars of taxpayer money has been paid out as “hush money” to conceal the transgressions of members of Congress. The New York Times declaims:

As charges of sexual harassment and assault swept from Hollywood to Washington, Congress has faced questions about how it addresses such claims. The answer: terribly.

For two decades, taxpayers have been underwriting secret payments to people who accuse lawmakers of sexual misconduct under a 1995 law called, paradoxically, the Congressional Accountability Act. The legislation applied to Congress many laws on workplace safety, employment and civil rights from which it had been exempt. In the process, it established an account to pay settlements, which prevented lawmakers from being personally liable, and created an Office of Compliance that kept charges and payments secret.

After public pressure, the Office of Compliance released a tally of the settlements this month: Between 1997 and the present, the office has paid more than $17 million on more than 260 claims. In keeping with Congress’s maddening lack of transparency, the tally lumps harassment with discrimination and other claims, so the number of harassment claims isn’t clear. It also doesn’t name any of those accused.

It isn’t just the Office of Compliance and the misuse of public funds isn’t limited to hushing up sexual misconduct.
The Washington Times reported:

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva quietly arranged a “severance package” in 2015 for one of his top staffers who threatened a lawsuit claiming the Arizona Democrat was frequently drunk and created a hostile workplace environment, revealing yet another way that lawmakers can use taxpayer dollars to hide their misbehavior on Capitol Hill.
While the Office of Compliance has been the focus of outrage on Capitol Hill for hush-money payouts in sexual harassment cases, the Grijalva payout points to another office that lawmakers can use to sweep accusations under the rug with taxpayer-funded settlements negotiated by the House Employment Counsel, which acts as the attorney for all House offices.

The employment counsel negotiated a deal for taxpayers to give $48,395 — five additional months’ salary — to the female aide, who left her job after three months. She didn’t pursue the hostile workplace complaint further.

The Government Accounting Office, a legislative branch agency, is the highest auditing institution of the federal government. Established in 1921 its empowering legislation says it is required to:

investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President … and to Congress … reports [and] recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures

Note: it is required to report the misapplication of public funds to the president. What the heck has the GAO been doing? Was the GAO unaware of these payments? How were they concealed? Were they aware but failed to report? Has the executive branch been in collusion with the legislative branch to conceal criminal misuse of public funds? How long as this been going on?

Terrible as the Hollywood and Alabama stories are, this calls into question the very foundations of American government.