Ex-senior aide to House Republican describes ‘hostile’ office environment

A former senior staffer to Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) is opening up about his tenure in the congressman’s office, describing Farenthold’s behavior as abusive and accusing him of making crude and sexually demeaning remarks to staffers.

Michael Rekola, who served as Farenthold’s communications director in 2015, told CNN that the congressman created a hostile work environment and castigated aides with insults and sexually explicit jokes.

Rekola told the network that he sought medical treatment and psychological counseling as a result of Farenthold’s behavior. 

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One remark from Farenthold particularly bothered Rekola. He said that he was preparing to leave town for his wedding, when the congressman remarked: “Better have your fiancée blow you before she walks down the aisle — it will be the last time.” 

He said Farenthold then made a comment about whether his bride-to-be should be wearing white at their wedding. 

“I was disgusted and I left. I walked out,” Rekola told CNN.

Elizabeth Peace, another former staffer for Farenthold, told CNN that the congressman did, in fact, make the oral sex remark. Both Peace and Rekola recalled that Farenthold also regularly called staffers “f—tards.”

Farenthold denied to CNN that he made the remark about oral sex, but acknowledged that he did refer to staffers as “f—tards,” though he said he used the term “in jest, not anger.” He said that it was “inappropriate.”

Farenthold’s conduct has come under scrutiny in recent weeks after it was revealed that he settled a lawsuit in 2015 using $84,000 in taxpayer money. That lawsuit, filed in 2014 by a former staffer, alleged that the congressman sexually harassed her and retaliated against her when she complained about his behavior.

The House Ethics Committee has launched an investigation into the allegations. Rekola has approached the panel to share his account of his time in Farenthold’s office.

Rekola told CNN that media coverage of the 2014 lawsuit elicited angry and volatile responses from Farenthold.

“Every time he didn’t like something, he would call me a f—tard or idiot. He would slam his fist down in rage and explode in anger,” he said. “He was flying off the handle on every little thing. I couldn’t find a way to control it.”

Rekola also recalled how Farenthold would make inappropriate remarks about women, including comments about the size of their breasts. 

The former aide described his experience in Farenthold’s office as a dark period in his life, in which his health suffered. He told CNN he experienced severe stomach pain and vomited daily. 

Farenthold told CNN that he was aware of Rekola’s stomach issues, but denied that it was due to stress incurred from work. 

“We accommodated him by giving him time to go to the doctor, letting him work from home, and roughly a year after he left our office, he came in and spoke with a number of my aides, delighted that the doctors had finally found out what was causing his stomach distress,” the congressman said. “It was not stress related, but we recall him saying he was allergic to anything he ate.”