[Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from the Hutchison campaign; it was originally posted earlier this afternoon.]
The conservative blog Sound Politics reported this morning that King County Council member (and County Executive candidate) Dow Constantine has been the subject of complaints of unspecified inappropriate behavior by a female county employee. The exact substance of the allegations, however, is unknown: After Seattle Times reporter Keith Ervin filed a records request for “any complaints alleging inappropriate behavior” by Constantine “toward any employee” with the county, a woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, obtained a two-week temporary restraining order against the release of the documents. A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for November 10.
On the right-wing Kirby Wilbur talk show on KVI this morning, the Sound Politics blogger who wrote the post, Mark Griswold, told Wilbur the woman had filed a “sexual harassment complaint” against Constantine, adding that there was “some pretty credible information out there” that the woman was told she would be promoted “as long as you keep quiet about this whole thing.”
However, after Griswold made similar comments on KIRO’s Dori Monson show later in the day, the woman’s attorney, Tyler Firkins, contacted a KIRO producer, insisting that his client hadn’t filed any complaint against Constantine.
Moreover, Constantine’s campaign spokesman, Sandeep Kaushik, calls the Sound Politics blogger’s claims “false and malicious,” and says there’s no truth to the allegation that “Jane Doe” filed a sexual harassment complaint against Constantine. He adds, “Susan Hutchison is becoming increasingly desperate because she knows she’s losing this race. …[Griswold] doesn’t know what he’s talking about and he’s not a credible source.”
Both Wilbur and Griswold suggested that the restraining order had been timed specifically so that the hearing would be after the election. Wilbur said, “My suspicion is that the intent here was simply to keep it off the docket until after the election,” to which Griswold responded, “It’s very convenient that the hearing is going to be … well after the election.”
However, Wilbur and Griswold’s allegations of dirty tricks surrounding the timing of the restraining order hearing seem baseless; temporary restraining orders, which are generally granted when requested, generally last at least two weeks. In other words, even if the woman had filed a request for the restraining order the same day Ervin filed his records request, October 20, her hearing wouild have been after the election.
Hutchison’s spokesman, Jordan McCarren, says he initiated a call with Ervin and found out that Ervin, in response to his initial request, received a heavily redacted document involving Constantine and a female employee. “We are not involved,” McCarren says. McCarren, however, could not provide details about the alleged document. In an email, Ervin declined to comment.
Neither Firkins nor Griswold has returned an email requesting comment.
