WASHINGTON D.C., DC — There is even more fall-out from sexual harassment claims against DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's former Chief of Staff. A third woman has shared her story of unwanted sexual advances by John Falcicchio, the ex-Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development. Now, the Mayor and DC Councilmembers are calling for additional investigations.
Tuesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to the inspector general calling for an investigation into allegations of favoritism, bullying, and retaliation inside the Wilson building. In the meantime, council members fear there may be more victims out there.
"I'm very concerned still that there may be more people out there that have not yet come forward," said Councilmember Brianne Nadeau.
Nadeau will be introducing emergency legislation calling for an immediate review of the Falcicchio investigation by the Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel. Her plan is to have the emergency bill ready for the Council’s final session on July 11.
The MOLC report, released June 17, found the 44-year-old did sexually harass a staffer, exposed himself, and sent countless lewd and sexually explicit videos and texts on her Snapchat app. The victim spoke candidly to our partners at the Washington Post and said Falcicchio got her drunk, brought her to his home, and pleasured himself in front of her. Falcicchio's lawyer and spokesperson did not respond to WUSA9’s request for comment.
"If we get to this worst-case scenario that they'll have the support they need to get help and get justice and right now I'm concerned those things aren't in place," said the councilmember.
Wednesday, Nadeau and nine of her council colleagues also introduced a bill that would require the inspector general to step in and hire an outside agency to conduct the review instead of the Mayor's office of legal counsel.
"If we want to build trust in our own process, we can't have people investigating their own bosses," she said.
Last week, Mayor Bowser spoke for the first time about the sexual harassment findings against her former political confidant saying she has faith in the internal review. Bowser has had few public appearances since.
“They're (the public) seeing how she decided to handle this,” said Nadeau, “I just think we need to handle it a different way.”
WUSA9 asked to interview the Mayor about this growing controversy, but she was not made available. Her next public appearance is on the 4th of July.