Amid sexual misconduct allegations, Grossberg resigns from Ky. Antisemitism Task Force
Rep. Daniel Grossberg resigned from the state’s antisemitism task force, a group he was instrumental in creating, last week.
The move came two days before Kentucky’s most important Democratic elected officials and organizations aligned to denounce Grossberg and call on him to resign in the wake in the wake of additional Herald-Leader reporting detailing sexual misconduct at a Louisville strip club.
Former state treasurer Jonathan Miller, who chairs the task force, announced it at the start of the group’s Sept. 18 meeting.
“I think you all know he’s very passionate about it,” Miller said to the task force. “He did not want to distract from our mission.”
At that point, Grossberg had not yet received public calls for his resignation from Gov. Andy Beshear and other powerful Democrats like Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, U.S. Congressman Morgan McGarvey and the executive committee of the Kentucky Democratic Party.
Anna Whites, Grossberg’s attorney, has said he has no plans to resign from the legislature. House Democrats voted to permanently expel him from the caucus Friday afternoon.
He is running unopposed in the November election.
Grossberg, 45, is a practicing Jew with a history of combating antisemitism in the state. In 2022 during his first successful electoral campaign, he spoke out against opposing campaign materials that many Jewish people in the state decried as antisemitic.
On Grossberg’s involvement with the task force’s inception, Beshear previously called the 45-year-old lawmaker “one of the leaders in bringing this to fruition.”
The governor said in December that Grossberg “admittedly pushed and pushed and pushed” to make the task force a reality.
Beshear had previously endorsed Grossberg in a primary election this year that the representative only won by 50 points despite his incumbency status.
Grossberg’s resignation from that task force — there is no official letter, Miller told the Herald-Leader — took place before the allegations about the strip club became public, but he was already under investigation by the Legislative Ethics Commission and Legislative Research Commission for allegations including sexual harassment.
At that time, the Herald-Leader had already reported on the adverse experiences six women had with the Louisville legislator. Many of those women went public in the aftermath of Friday’s events, including all three women who alleged sexual harassment in an Aug. 20 story.
On Friday, the Herald-Leader reported Grossberg having been banned from a Louisville strip club for life due to an alleged incident where he groped a dancer on stage and solicited another for prostitution, among other things. The legislator has denied soliciting prostitution from anyone and said he hasn’t used his office to gain advantage
However, Grossberg told News Radio 840 WHAS in Louisville that he is seeking treatment for his behavior.
“I apologize to anyone who I have made uncomfortable,” he said in a statement. “Their voices deserve to be heard. Similarly, I deserve due process so that I can respond to these allegations in the appropriate venue. I look forward to doing so, under oath, during the legislative ethics inquiry.”
He added that he is “in treatment to help reduce my impulsive behavior going forward — and I will keep my head down and continue working to serve my constituents.”
Following Grossberg’s resignation, State Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, is the only lawmaker in the group.
