Sheila Jackson Lee Apologizes For Allegedly Berating Staffers | EUROtoday

HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who’s operating to be Houston’s subsequent mayor, expressed remorse and mentioned that “everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect” following the discharge of an unverified audio recording presupposed to be of the longtime Democratic lawmaker berating employees members with a barrage of expletives.

In the recording, which was despatched anonymously to a number of information organizations on Friday, a girl who feels like Jackson Lee might be heard criticizing a male employees member after he tells her that some data she was in search of was with one other staffer. It is unclear when the recording was made.

“I want you to have a (expletive) brain. I want you to have read it. I want you to say, ’Congresswoman, it was such and such date. That’s what I want. That’s the kind of staff that I want to have,” the girl might be heard saying.

In the remainder of the 95-second recording, the girl berates the staffer she is speaking to and one other employees member, whom she described as a “fat ass stupid idiot.”

“Two goddamn big ass children, (expletive) idiots who serve no goddamn purpose. Ain’t managing nobody, nobody’s respecting them, nobody gives a (expletive) about what you’re doing and you ain’t doing (expletive) and this is an example of it,” the girl mentioned.

In an announcement launched Monday night, Jackson Lee didn’t straight admit that the girl within the recording is her however mentioned she wished to specific to “the people of Houston that I strongly believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and that includes my own staff.”

“I know that I am not perfect. I recognize that in my zeal to do everything possible to deliver for my constituents I have in the past fallen short of my own standards and there is no excuse for that,” mentioned Jackson Lee, who has been in Congress since 1995.

She mentioned a lot of her employees members have “gone on to bigger and better opportunities and others as well have returned to work with me again.”

She blamed the discharge of the recording, which was despatched out days earlier than the beginning of early voting on Monday within the Nov. 7 election, on her predominant rival within the mayoral race, state Sen. John Whitmire.

“To anyone who has listened to this recording with concern, I am regretful and hope you will judge me not by something trotted out by a political opponent, that worked to exploit this,” Jackson Lee mentioned.

Sue Davis, a spokesperson for Whitmire, mentioned the state senator’s marketing campaign had nothing to do with the recording.

“It’s the mark of a desperate, losing campaign to make this weak attempt to try to change the narrative from what is on the recording,” Davis mentioned.

Jackson Lee is one in all 18 candidates vying to guide the nation’s fourth-largest metropolis.

They are in search of to interchange Mayor Sylvester Turner, who has served eight years and might’t run once more due to time period limits.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X, previously often called Twitter: twitter.com/juanlozano70