Washington - A United States congressman faced increasing pressure on Monday after his party's leader in the House of Representatives set in motion an ethics investigation into an 18-year-old woman's claim of having had an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the man.
Nancy Pelosi's statement issued on Sunday night asked the House Ethics Committee to look into the allegations against David Wu and will make it more difficult for House members in President Barack Obama's Democratic Party to ignore the case. A similar disturbance occurred six weeks ago when Anthony Weiner acknowledged he had sent lewd photos of himself to women online. Weiner eventually resigned under pressure.
Unlike the media frenzy that ensued in the Weiner case, Wu's situation has prompted little attention so far outside his state, Oregon, because of the intense focus on lawmakers' struggle to reach a deal on raising the national debt ceiling.
Wu is serving his seventh two-year term. In 2004, he won despite acknowledging a decades-old college incident in which he had tried to force a former girlfriend to have sex. Voters said they disliked an opponent's attempt to use that event against Wu.
In January this year, seven members of Wu's staff resigned because of behaviour that included sending a photo of himself in a tiger costume to a staff member and an angry public speech he made. Wu attributed those to a period of mental health problems that began in 2008 as marital issues led to separation from his wife.
Wu and Pelosi had a telephone conversation on Saturday but neither politician has disclosed details. The congressman has not spoken publicly about Pelosi's statement.
The Oregonian newspaper, citing an unidentified senior Democratic official, said Wu did not intend to resign but would complete his term and retire in 2012.
Wu would have faced an extremely difficult challenge in his party's primary, or qualifying, election, probably the most difficult of his career. One of the candidates challenging Wu in next year's primary, state Labour Commissioner Brad Avakian, said Wu should see Pelosi's calls for an ethics investigation as a signal to step down immediately.
“An ethics investigation would result in a long drawn-out distraction and prolong the public pain” for the unidentified woman who has accused Wu, Avakian spokesperson Jake Weigler said. “For the sake of our community and this young woman and her family, as well as his own family, David Wu should do the right thing and step aside now.”
Another Wu challenger in the Democratic primary, state representative Brad Witt, said an ethics investigation is needed so “we get to the bottom of the allegations and determine what the facts are”.
Wu's only response so far has been a brief statement late on Friday: “This is very serious, and I have absolutely no desire to bring unwanted publicity, attention or stress to a young woman and her family.”
Oregon Democrats have been waiting for word on how Wu plans to respond further to the allegation and the resignation demands.
Spokespersons for both Governor John Kitzhaber and the state party said Wu had not sought out top Democrats in Oregon to discuss the matter.
“At this point, I don't believe those conversations have happened,” said Trent Lutz, executive director of the state party.
Trent Lutz, executive director of the Oregon Democratic Party, and other party members said they hoped Wu would respond directly to the allegation reported by the Oregonian newspaper. The paper quoted sources who said a young woman left voicemail at Wu's Portland office this year accusing him of an unwanted sexual encounter three weeks after last year's election.
Citing anonymous sources, The Oregonian reported that Wu told senior aides that the sexual encounter with the young woman in California was consensual. The paper reported Facebook notes indicate she graduated from high school in 2010 and registered to vote in California last August.
The paper said the woman decided not to press changes because there were no witnesses and it would have been her word against Wu's.
The newspaper said its information came from multiple sources familiar with the allegation.
In Wu's district stretching from downtown Portland to the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Oregon, county-level leaders said they, too, were hoping for more from Wu. - Sapa-AP