Rebecca Cook/Reuters
A former staffer for Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is alleging that the longtime congressman harassed and verbally abused her when she worked for him in the 1990s. Melanie Sloan, a Washington ethics lawyer, added that congressional leaders ignored her pleas for help. She is the first ex-staffer to speak on the record about Conyers’ alleged abuse. “There was nothing I could do to stop it,” Sloan told the Washington Post. “Not going to leadership, not going to my boss, not going to a women’s group, not going to a reporter. I was dismissed and told I must be mentally unstable.” While Sloan does not believe Conyers sexually harassed her, she says he once called her into his office where she found him in his underwear. Conyers’ lawyer has denied the allegations.