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Ex-congressman Mel Watt, accuser testify amid sexual harassment allegations

In the other big hearing in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Mel Watt and the employee accusing him of sexual harassment answered questions from members of the House Financial Services Committee.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In the other big hearing in Washington, D.C. Thursday, Mel Watt and the employee accusing him of sexual harassment answered questions from members of the House Financial Services Committee.

"I'm not asserting that I am above the law," Watt told the committee's chairman, defending his lack of cooperation with an independent sexual harassment investigation, arguing presidential appointees legally are not considered employees and therefore not bound by agency policies.

"Director Watt, it sounds like you are," Chairman Jeb Hensarling responded.

Watt assured the chairman he is cooperating with a second federal investigation.

"I will not hesitate for a moment to use my power of subpoena if we have any scintilla of evidence that you are not cooperating fully in this investigation," the chairman said.

Those words followed a marathon committee hearing where employee Simone Grimes detailed allegations of sexual harassment.

"I felt vulnerable and unsafe," Grimes said in her prepared statement.

Over the course of nearly two hours, she answered multiple questions about her boss' unwanted sexual advances, which she said prevented her from advancement and equal pay within the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

"He certainly offered me a number of positions but he always tied it to a fact that he had an attraction to me," Grimes said.

Members of the bipartisan committee listened with a sympathetic ear and thanked her for her strength and courage. The hearing resulted in a promise that members will continue to monitor Grimes' "serious charges."

At the end, a defiant Watt, citing investigative findings, made it clear he never physically touched Grimes.

"Ms. Grimes acknowledged that Director Watt never groped her nor touched her," he said. "...We have never been intimate in any fashion. Specifically, we have never held hands, kissed or engaged in any sexual activity."

He also once again said the investigations will find he did not break the law. For the first time, he also publicly criticized Grimes' pending lawsuit and secret recordings of him, questioning whether tapes and transcripts were tampered with in some way.

"I'm also perhaps even more disappointed that someone I considered a friend and mentee would be for years systematically trying to lay the groundwork to file a lawsuit by recording what Ms. Grimes' verified affidavit said are 'all conversations with me' and then selectively leaking parts of them to the press," he said. "

Watt's appointment as director ends in January. He told the committee today he and his wife, the "most beautiful woman in the world," will celebrate 51 years of marriage in November.

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