Bryan Slaton Gets His Due

The General Investigating Committee has recommended that the House expel Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Groomer). This is a sign the Legislature is – at last – taking sexual harassment seriously.

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Monday, May 8, 2023

         Everything’s over but the crying. Unless he resigns between now and then, tomorrow Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) will be expelled from the Texas House of Representatives, the first individual to be so sanctioned since 1927, when two members were expelled for accepting bribes. The vote to expel him may well be unanimous. “He’s radioactive,” said a friend and longtime Capitol staffer and lobbyist when I asked whether Slaton had any supporters in the House.

         No tears will be shed at the departure of Rep. Slaton (R-MAGA), at least not in the Capitol. Two years ago, Texas Monthly dubbed him “The Cockroach” in its biennial Best and Worst Legislators list. It accused him of “the far-right version of virtue signaling: an unserious proposal that did more to call attention to Slaton than advance [a] cause.” He was a frequent thorn in the leadership’s side and was considered the most extreme member of the House’s extremist Freedom Caucus. And, while all legislators like to “strut and fret their hour upon the stage,” most of them know when it's time to get down to business, a life lesson that had so far eluded Bryan Slaton.   

         This is the first successful application of new policies and procedures adopted by the House in 2018. The fact that the new rules were used to successfully confront inappropriate behavior by a member of the House may be the most important legacy of this drama.

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         But first, how did it come to this? Let’s start, as Genesis does, at the beginning. In early April, the Quorum Report  and Texas Tribune reported on allegations that State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Creep) was having an “inappropriate relationship” with an intern in his legislative office that included providing her with alcohol and having sex with her.

         Soon, three formal complaints relating to the same behavior were filed with the House General Investigating Committee. The Committee designated a third party, former judge Catherine Evans, to investigate the allegations and report back.

         Judge Evans submitted her report on Monday, May 1, and the Committee set a hearing for Thursday, May 4, to give Rep. Slaton an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

         Then last Saturday, May 6, the Committee issued a 16-page report that confirmed most of the reported allegations against Slaton and recommended his expulsion from the Texas House. A resolution to that effect will be discussed tomorrow.

         The report found that:

·      On at least a couple occasions during the first three months of the session, Slaton provided alcohol at social events to one or more staffers who were not of legal drinking age, including an intern in his office whom the report calls “Sophie A.”

·      On the night of March 31-April 1, he invited Sophie A. to his apartment. She went with three friends: her roommate, the roommate’s co-worker, and the co-worker’s boyfriend. Over the course of the evening, Slaton served her multiple rum and cokes to the point where she felt “pretty rough,” “really dizzy,” and had “split vision.” After several unsuccessful attempts to get her to leave with them, her friends departed a few hours later.

·      Sophie A. ended up spending the night with Slaton, and told her roommate the next morning that they had had sex and she had lost her virginity to Slaton.

·      During the next work week, Slaton showed Sophie A. an “I know what you did” email and questioned her about keeping their liaison secret and suggested that her friends who had been to the apartment that night also needed to keep quiet. This engendered some panic among them, and they finally decided to file a complaint with the committee. 

·      At his hearing, Slaton did not deny the substance of any of these accusations. Nor did he express any remorse or regret for his actions.  

·      The Committee concluded that Slaton had violated several state laws, including the prohibition on serving alcohol to a minor, unlawful employment practices, and abuse of official capacity and official oppression. The report is unclear on whether the Committee will refer those cases to prosecuting attorneys.

·      The Committee also concluded that Slaton had violated multiple policies of the Texas House, and thus recommended his expulsion.

         What comes across in the report is how lamentably pathetic and skeezy Slaton’s behavior was. At one point, he told his young victim that he and his wife were “having problems.” On the fateful night, he pressured the young woman to come to his apartment because “he didn’t want to drink alone.” This is low-grade stuff right out of “The Wild and Crazy Guy’s Handbook for Seducing Girls Half Your Age.”

         What happens next? By the end of the day Tuesday, he will be out of the House. His seat will become vacant, to be filled in a special election called by the Governor.

         One possibility is that the good citizens of HD-2 will return Bryan Slaton (R-Troglodyte) to his seat. In that case, the House would likely defer to the wishes of the people of HD-2 and allow Slaton to take his seat again.

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         Whatever Slaton’s fate, it is worth celebrating that the investigation and recommendation happened at all. Sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior are part of the culture of the Legislature. When I worked in the Capitol in the early 90’s, there was a senator who was infamously, to put it mildly, “handsy.” Female staffers knew the drill: never get in an elevator with that senator.

         Things may have improved in the last 30 years, if only that the behavior is more outwardly frowned upon. But the “boys’ club” culture of the Legislature is deeply ingrained. It has been impressively chronicled by Olivia Messer, first at the Texas Observer and then at the Daily Beast. Her stories in November and December of 2017 helped trigger the evaluation of and modest reforms to the House and Senate policies.

         Whatever the improvements, the Lege continues to provide a toxic work environment for many staffers. After I suggested last week that “[t]he public does not know even 1% of the sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior going on in the Legislature,” a longtime male House staffer commented that “[e]verybody knows this statement is true, but nothing ever happens. Outsiders probably think it’s hyperbolic. Insiders know that 1% may be high.” A female staffer whose smarts and fearlessness I’ve long admired told me, “I always say it’s like going to work in a dark alley every day.”

         Well, something has happened this time. Maybe it will change the trend line a little so that, over time, the Lege becomes a safer place to work. The people who work at the Capitol deserve that, and so do the people of Texas.

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         By the way … when I wrote about Rep. Slaton, I also mentioned Rep. Jolanda Jones (D-Houston), whose entire full-time staff resigned in a letter that complained of “an abusive and hostile work environment.” The letter became public and led to a Texas Monthly interview in which the former staffers elaborated on their problems with their boss. Their complaint was also referred to the General Investigating Committee. There’s been no word yet on whether or how the committee is looking into it.