Lawyers for Indiana's attorney general are downplaying allegations he drunkenly groped four women during a party, arguing that the claims against him represent common behavior even if they are true.
They made their arguments in court documents submitted on behalf of Republican state Attorney General Curtis Hill, calling for a judge to throw out the federal lawsuit the women filed against him last month alleging sexual harassment and defamation by Hill.
Hill is accused of touching the backs or backsides of a state lawmaker and three legislative staffers in March 2018 at an Indianapolis bar, where a party was being held to celebrate the end of the legislative session. He has rebuffed calls from Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and other state officials to resign, but also faces an upcoming state disciplinary hearing that could threaten his law license.
Hill's lawyers argue in court filings dated July 11 that the women don't have a valid case for sexual harassment under federal law because they all work for state government's legislative branch while Hill is an elected officer of the executive branch.
"His activities in the crowded bar can hardly be characterized as the 'misuse of power' conferred by 'state law,'" the attorneys hired by Hill to personally represent him wrote in response to the allegations. "They were not in furtherance of any duty, obligation or power he possesses as Indiana Attorney General. If believed, the allegations focus on the activities of a partygoer late at night, which is the type of behavior that occurs in bars after midnight."
The lawsuit names the state and Hill — both individually and in his capacity as the attorney general — as defendants.
The attorney general's office argued the lawsuit's claims of civil rights violations on the part of the state should be dismissed, partly because state law excludes the women's jobs in the legislative branch from the state's civil service system.
Lawyers for the women declined to comment Wednesday on Hill's court filings. A federal magistrate judge has scheduled a Sept. 13 telephone conference with lawyers regarding the lawsuit.
Hill, a former Elkhart County prosecutor who was elected in 2016 to a term that runs through the end of 2020, called the women's allegations "vicious and false" during a news conference shortly after they became public last summer.
The women — Democratic Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon of Munster, one Republican legislative staffer and two Democratic legislative aides — maintain that Hill's comments to reporters and in social media posts defamed the women and hurt their professional reputations. Their lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages from the state and Hill personally, an apology from Hill for his denials and an injunction ordering the state to adopt tougher sexual harassment policies.
A special prosecutor, who declined to pursue criminal charges against Hill last year, noted that Hill didn't deny the touching occurred, with the attorney general describing it as "incidental ... in the crowded bar" and "not intended to be disrespectful, sexual in nature or rude." A separate state inspector general's report cited eyewitnesses who called Hill's behavior inappropriate and "creepy" but said he didn't break any state ethics rules.
Hill's lawyers with the Hammond-based firm of Eichhorn & Eichhorn argue the allegations don't meet the legal standards for federal civil rights violations.
"The alleged conduct is no different than that which might occur in bars anywhere," they wrote. "This is no federal case simply because Mr. Hill was the Indiana Attorney General, and there has been no federal right infringed."
Hill faces an October hearing on the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission's allegations that he committed professional misconduct at the party, which could lead to actions ranging from reprimands to his disbarment as an attorney.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.
“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.
The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.
“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.
The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.
They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.
Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.
Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”
In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”
The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)
Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
