Activist with ties to Marjorie Greene charged with drugging and assaulting a woman in college: report

On Thursday, The Daily Beast reported that a libertarian activist has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a fellow student at the University of Pittsburgh.

"The bombshell allegations follow a wave of other students coming forward last year with similar stories, claiming online that they’d been sexually assaulted by Cliff C. Maloney, Jr., a right-wing darling with ties to high-profile Republicans including Rand Paul and Marjorie Taylor Greene," reported Justin Rohrlich and Zachary Petrizzo. "Police began investigating the allegations on Jan. 20, 2021, when a former student at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where Maloney founded the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, claimed the now 30-year-old had drugged and raped her at a frat party nearly a decade ago."

According to the report, the woman encountered Maloney, then 22, at the party, after which she agreed to go back to his dorm.

"The two of them walked back to Maloney’s dorm room, encountering 'a few unknown males in front of the Delta Chi Fraternity, having an altercation,' according to the complaint. Maloney stepped in and deescalated the situation, and the two continued on," said the report. "When they got to Maloney’s second-floor room, she sat down on the end of his bed. Moments later, the complaint alleges, Maloney 'came out of the bathroom holding two drinks…in long-stem Champagne glasses,' it says. As she took a sip, Maloney pushed up on the bottom of the woman’s glass and told her to 'drink up.' She 'thought this was strange,' according to the complaint."

After this, she alleges that she became "foggy," and that Maloney forced himself on her, during which she went in and out of consciousness and was unable to resist. She also says that in the months after this, Maloney tried repeatedly to get back in touch with her, which she rebuffed.

Maloney, who was charged with rape earlier this week over the incident, denies all allegations; however, he reportedly had rumors of misconduct following him for years.

"In recent years, allegations of Maloney’s wrongdoing have engulfed the organization he led for nearly five years as president," said the report. "In January 2021, former YAL members came forward on Twitter, using the hashtag #YALtoo to speak out against the then-president of the libertarian student activist organization. 'Ah, Cliff Maloney Jr. He fancies himself the godfather of the liberty movement, but instead of sending people to kneecap the goons who assaulted your daughter, he’ll promote the goons – and maybe help them run for office,' one student wrote at the time. Another student who was part of the national libertarian campus organization wrote on Twitter that Maloney asked her to 'get in bed with him.'"

Maloney's political consulting firm, Mobilize the Message, has worked with several Republican senators and representatives. Ironically, Greene in particular has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits a cult of child rapists is secretly leading the country.

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