Texas GOP congressman who owns 'blow-me.org' website accused of sexual harassment
December 17, 2014
A Texas Republican congressman is facing allegations of sexual harassment from a former staff member.
According to Mediaite, Rep. Blake Farenthold was accused of harassing a female staffer in a lawsuit filed last Friday. On Monday, it emerged that Farenthold is the owner of the URL "www.blow-me.org," a currently inactive web address.
Freshman congressman and Tea Party favorite Farenthold was accused of sexual misconduct and of creating a hostile work environment in a lawsuit filed by former staffer Lauren Greene.
Greene claims that Farenthold needed a team of staffers to accompany him to functions on Capitol Hill because of his tendency to drink too much and behave inappropriately toward women.
“Farenthold regularly drank to excess," said the suit, "and because of his tendency to flirt, the staffers who accompanied him to Capitol Hill functions would joke that they had to be on ‘red head patrol’ to keep him out of trouble.”
The congressman reportedly shared his "sexual fantasies" and "wet dreams" about Greene with other staffers and "regularly made comments designed to gauge whether [Greene] was interested in a sexual relationship.”
In February of 2014, Farenthold reportedly tried to entice Greene into a "threesome" with a female lobbyist. He told Greene that he is estranged from his wife and hasn't "had sex with her in years."
Greene said she raised concerns about Farenthold's behavior with other senior staff. Over time it became difficult to perform her duties, she claims, because she tried to avoid being alone with Farenthold. She was eventually fired from her position.
Her suit, say Farenthold's representatives, is merely a he-said, she-said personnel matter from a disgruntled former employee.
“The Congressman is eager to respond to Ms. Greene’s allegations through the appropriate legal process,” said a spokesperson. “[We are] confident that once all of the facts are revealed, he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.”
On Monday, however, BuzzFeed revealed that Farenthold is the owner of "www.blow-me.org," a potential pornographic site which he has owned since 1999.
Mediaite speculated that Farenthold purchased the URL in a "cyber-squatting" scheme, hoping to eventually sell it to distributers of illicit material.
His office dismissed the website ownership as unimportant.
“Farenthold did not use the name and does not intend to renew it,” his spokesperson said.