Rep. Grossberg pushes back on allegations: ‘Rumors have no place in a fact-based hearing’

State Rep. Daniel Grossberg has responded to several allegations made against him — many of which were not previously public — in a lengthy press release from his attorney Friday morning.

Grossberg’s attorney, Anna Whites, wrote that there is “no evidence” presented in a complaint filed to the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission by House Democratic Leadership that any messages he’s sent constitute sexual harassment.

“The only text that discusses inappropriate communications is a reference by a (third) party to that third party hearing rumors about inappropriate communication from other unnamed third parties at some unnamed time,” Whites wrote. “Rumors have no place in a fact-based hearing.”

The Herald-Leader had previously reported on an investigation into Grossberg and messages that three different women working in and around politics in Frankfort received from him that they deemed “creepy” and inappropriate.

In those messages, the 45-year-old Louisville Democrat commented on their appearance very late into the night.

Whites wrote that House Democratic Leadership included a “copy of a newspaper article” in their discussion of Grossberg’s messages.

“The communications complained of in that article, particularly taken in the context of the ongoing messages between the recipients both prior to and after the ones cited in the newspaper story, do not constitute sexual harassment,” Whites wrote.

Grossberg has “steadfastly” denied any impropriety since he was first contacted by the Herald-Leader about his messages to women.

“I never, in my work, approached or crossed a line in my professional communications. Any claim that private texts on my personal cell phone are work related have no merit,” Grossberg said in a late July statement.

A statement from House Democratic Leadership pushes back on Whites’ characterizations. They mentioned that they have reported “multiple serious allegations” against Grobsserg to “the proper legislative bodies.”

Both the ethics commission and the Legislative Research Commission, the state legislature’s administrative arm, are looking into different allegations against Grossberg.

They also criticized her “desire to litigate this in the press” with alleged misrepresentations.

“These investigations are designed to be confidential to protect those who come forward with their accounts of impropriety. We continue to honor that intent as best we can given Rep. Grossberg’s attorney’s desire to litigate this in the press with misrepresentations rather than through proper confidential channels.

“This situation continues to evolve, and we are taking new information that has come to light, including additional texts, first-hand accounts, and calls from an outside organization for Rep. Grossberg’s resignation seriously,” the statement read.

The letter from Whites also included point-by-point pushback against previous ethical issues alleged around Grossberg’s purchase of a car as well as yet unreported instances of a fundraising call, an offer to assist a legislator who was receiving harassing messages and an official letter sent to high schoolers who attended a trip he chaperoned.

All those events were called into question by the complaint to the ethics commission, according to Whites’ response.

Only the complainant can release a copy of the complaint itself, according to legislative ethics rules. House Democrats have not responded to a Herald-Leader request to do so.

Whites accused House Democratic leadership of using “rumor, innuendo and their own apparent animus” toward Grossberg to make “unsupported allegations.”

“This is unethical and inappropriate in the extreme, particularly for leaders of a caucus,” Whites wrote. “The complaint should be dismissed.”

Since the initial report on the investigation, which is being conducted by the Legislative Research Commission, House Democratic leadership opted to strip Grossberg of his committee assignments for the interim legislative session and temporarily remove him from the caucus.

Kentucky Young Democrats, a political organization supporting Democrats under the age of 40, has also called on Grossberg to resign.

Grossberg had also offered a new defense of his past conduct when confronted with satirical writings from college that played off a reputation he had earned for being “sketchy” around women.

Whites told the Herald-Leader last week that he had a “neurodivergent diagnosis,” placing him on the autism spectrum. The writings were hyper-sexual and recommended that “lonely,” “horny” and “creepy” young men aggressively pursue women on campus, even if the women weren’t interested.

This story was originally published August 16, 2024 at 11:37 AM.

Austin Horn

Lexington Herald-Leader

706-571-8597

Austin Horn is a politics reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He previously worked for the Frankfort State Journal and National Public Radio. Horn has roots in both Woodford and Martin Counties.