Senator John Kennedy’s known for his folksy, homespun sayings.
But Kennedy is facing one of the most serious situations of his career.
And John Kennedy confronted one sex scandal that will make your skin crawl.
Scandal at the FDIC
A report from the law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, & Hamilton detailed the shockingly depraved work culture at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Investigators found that 500 employees at the FDIC reported a culture of pervasive “sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct.”
One female employee reported receiving a picture of a male co-worker’s genitals.
“A woman examiner reported on the shock of receiving a picture of an FDIC senior examiner’s private parts out of the blue while serving on detail in a field office, only to be told later by others in that field office that she should stay away from him because he had a ‘reputation,’” the report stated.
Over an eight-year period between 2015 and 2023, not one of the 93 harassment complaints resulted in anyone getting fired.
FDIC officials handed out just two suspensions, two letters of reprimand, and 12 warnings.
FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg testified before the Senate and found himself squarely in Senator Kennedy’s crosshairs.
Kennedy expresses outrage over sex scandal at the FDIC
“Do I understand you, sir, that you believe you’re the person to clean up the FDIC?” Kennedy asked.
Gruenberg answered that he was.
Kennedy couldn’t believe this answer as he served as FDCI chairman from 2012 to 2018 and again beginning in 2023.
Gruenberg’s tenure covered half the time period in question where sexual harassment or other inappropriate workplace conduct ran rampant.
Kennedy treated this answer with the level of absurdity it deserved through his next set of questions.
“Do you also believe that Elvis is alive?” Kennedy wondered.
“Do you also believe in Bigfoot?” Kennedy followed up.
Kennedy told Gruenberg his continuing leadership at the FDIC was untenable.
“You’re not going to be able to clean up the FDIC because you’re going to be too busy defending yourself in court,” Kennedy stated.
Kennedy proposes a solution
Kennedy informed Gruenberg that he planned to introduce legislation allowing an extended statute of limitations so employees could sue the FDIC for the misconduct they experienced.
“I’m going to introduce a bill to increase the statute of limitations to allow every employee at the FDIC to file suit over the sexual abuse and the sexual discrimination and this racism. And you’re going to be spending all your time in court,” Kennedy added.
Democrats in New York State passed a similar law that allowed E. Jean Carroll to sue Donald Trump for sexual assault despite the statute of limitations on her claim from the mid-1990s having long since expired.
Kennedy told Gruenberg the idea of him fixing an agency he helped break was ridiculous.
“You fixing this agency, Mr. Gruenberg, is like asking Alec Baldwin to conduct a course in gun safety,” Kennedy stated.
Then Kennedy went in for the kill.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself . . . Have you ever read a worse report, Mr. Greenberg?” Kennedy wondered.
“It’s a bad report, Senator,” Gruenberg admitted.
“I apologize,” Gruenberg then said in the vain hope those two words would make all his problems vanish.
Kennedy then showed Gruenberg just how sorely he was mistaken.
“And now I think you ought to resign,” Kennedy declared.
