House Ethics Committee probing Rep. Tom Reed

"The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Tom Reed may have engaged in sexual misconduct, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct," the panel's Democratic chairman, Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, said in a statement along with the committee's top Republican, Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana. "The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations."

In response, Reed said in a statement: “We have already publicly addressed this situation and consistent with that are cooperating with the House Ethics Committee to bring this matter to conclusion.”

The ethics probe adds another, yet-to-be-written chapter in the story of Reed's downfall.

Only a few weeks ago, Reed was a nationally prominent moderate Republican, the co-chair of the meet-in-the-middle House Problem Solvers Caucus and a possible GOP candidate for governor of New York in 2022.

But then on March 19, the Washington Post published an article in which Nicolette Davis, a former insurance company lobbyist, said Reed unclasped her bra strap through her blouse at a Minneapolis pub after an ice-fishing expedition in early 2017.

“A drunk congressman is rubbing my back,” Davis said in a text to a friend, the Post reported, adding that she followed that up with a text saying, “HELP HELP.”

With Reed reaching toward her thigh, Davis asked for help from the person on the other side of her, who then pulled Reed out of the bar, the Post said.

Two days after the article appeared, Reed announced that he would not run for re-election in 2022 and that he would not run for governor. In a long statement, Reed said that he realized in 2017 that he had an alcohol problem and that he has been in recovery ever since.

"Consistent with my recovery, I publicly take ownership of my past actions, offer this amends and humbly apologize again to Ms. Davis, my wife and kids, loved ones, and to all of you," said Reed, who later stepped down from his leadership position on the Problem Solvers Caucus.

A day after Reed released his statement, Michael R. Caputo – a longtime Republican consultant from East Aurora who served a brief and controversial tenure as an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration – called for the Office of Congressional Ethics to probe Reed's actions. The Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent investigative agency separate from the lawmaker-led Ethics Committee.

"I want Reed to face justice," Caputo said at the time, citing the probes of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's behavior toward women. "If we expect Gov. Cuomo to stand for an investigation, then certainly Rep. Tom Reed should, too. He gets to serve 20 more months in Congress without answering to what he did?"

However, given the gravity of Davis' allegation, an ethics probe of some sort was probably inevitable regarding Reed.

The Ethics Committee routinely looks into allegations regarding lawmakers. In fact, just one minute before it issued its news release regarding Reed, the Ethics Committee said it had opened a probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican.

The release about Gaetz was much more detailed than the one regarding Reed.

"The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct," the committee said.

The investigation means that if Reed and Gaetz remain in the House, the Ethics panel will eventually issue separate reports on the two lawmakers and perhaps recommend that the full House sanction them in some way, possibly through a reprimand, censure, fine or expulsion.