Calls for resignation of state attorney general over groping claims

By Brian Slodysko
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill faced calls to resign Tuesday after an internal legislative memo was leaked publicly, detailing allegations that the Republican inappropriately touched four women at an Indianapolis bar, including a lawmaker who said he groped her even after she told him to “back off.”

Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody said that the allegations against Hill, which were lodged by the lawmaker and three legislative staffers, are “beyond troubling and wildly inappropriate.”

“We believe the multiple allegations against the Attorney General are serious and raise material doubts over whether he can effectively carry out the duties of his office,” Zody said.

So far, however, no prominent Republicans have called for his resignation. Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer said the GOP has “zero tolerance for sexual harassment,” but he stopped short of calling for Hill’s resignation.

Hill, a Republican, denied the allegations, calling them “deeply troubling.” His office did not respond to questions on Tuesday about whether he planned to resign.

The Indianapolis Star on Monday was the first to report on a confidential eight-page memo detailing an investigation into the matter. The document, which was independently obtained by The Associated Press, was written by the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister at the request of Indiana legislative leaders. The AP has redacted the name of one woman in the document because it typically doesn’t identify women who have alleged sexual misconduct.

It presents a picture of a highly intoxicated Hill who was carousing at an Indianapolis bar during the early morning hours of March 15, shortly after this year’s legislative session came to a close.

The document, dated June 18, states that Hill’s alleged conduct toward the legislative employees may have been “inappropriate,” but was “likely not severe or pervasive enough to result in a hostile work environment.” However, the firm found that Hill’s conduct toward the lawmaker was “likely egregious enough to meet the threshold of ‘severe.’”

The memo includes details from interviews conducted with six women who attended the end-of-session party.

The lawmaker said an intoxicated Hill put his hands on her back, slid them down her back, put them under her clothes and grabbed her buttocks, according to the memo. She told him to “back off” and walked away, but Hill approached her again later and again reached under her clothing and grabbed her. She again told him to “back off,” according to the memo.

Hill, a staunch social conservative who is married, called the allegations “vicious” and said there was a “fundamental lack of fairness to this entire process.”

But legislative leaders said in a joint statement that the investigation was completed and “the matter has been addressed with the Attorney General to the satisfaction of the employees involved.”