Bullock Admits Hiding Aide’s Harassment, Apologizes

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D.) apologized Saturday for keeping secret sexual harassment claims against a former aide, allowing the aide to find new employment in a prominent government office where he again came under fire for sexual harassment.

Bullock hired Kevin O’Brien in 2015, when Bullock served as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. O’Brien left the post after an investigation found a woman’s accusations of sexual harassment credible, the New York Post reported. He then found work as deputy chief of staff to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D.) in early 2016, where he was again accused of harassment. Investigators confirmed “sexual harassment in violation of the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,” according to a heavily redacted seven-page report from the city Law Department.

After declining to discuss the allegations during a Friday interview with Politico, Bullock offered his apology in a Medium post Saturday. In the post, titled “I’m committed to doing better,” Bullock takes responsibility for allowing his aide to harm more women, and he describes his shock at the aide’s initial transgression.

Bullock describes how O’Brien “sexually harassed a colleague at an after-hours event.” The governor says he found the behavior “inconsistent with the person I’d known for seven years and had come to call a friend. I’d never seen him act inappropriately. I’d never heard stories or complaints.” Nevertheless, O’Brien left the office, albeit without any public explanation for the departure.

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