(CNN) — A woman has told the House Ethics Committee that Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez sexually harassed and assaulted her, her attorneys said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Ethics Committee announced Monday that it had opened an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Gomez, including “engaging in inappropriate sexual contact” with a staffer, which would be a violation of House ethics rules.
Gomez on Monday acknowledged that he made “personal mistakes outside my marriage” but said that his actions “were consensual in nature and haven’t violated the law or House Ethics rules.”
However, one woman who has not publicly shared her name told the committee Gomez’s actions toward her were not consensual, according to her attorneys, Lisa J. Banks and Sarah E. Nesbitt.
“We represent one of the women who was interviewed by the House Committee on Ethics about her experience of sexual harassment and assault by Representative Jimmy Gomez,” the attorneys said in a statement. “Contrary to Representative Gomez’s assertion in his statement, his actions were not ‘consensual in nature’ with respect to our client. We fully expect that the House Committee on Ethics will come to the same conclusion in its investigation.”
Gomez did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attorneys’ allegations, which CNN has not independently corroborated. It was not clear from Gomez’s earlier statement about a consensual relationship whether he was referring to his actions with the same woman. A spokesperson for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the attorneys’ statement.
Monday’s announcement from the Ethics Committee about the probe into Gomez came after three sources told CNN exclusively in June that the panel was investigating the California congressman, who represents parts of Los Angeles.
The sources, who asked not to be named to protect their identities, said the panel had made early reach-outs in its attempt to follow up on a New York Post story, which alleged Gomez had been spotted kissing an aide, who worked for a different member of Congress, in 2023. A Gomez spokesperson told The Post at the time that the accounts were “not true” and the incident “didn’t happen.”
In looking into that claim, one of the sources told CNN, the panel learned of other allegations of sexual misconduct against Gomez that it is now investigating.
Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar – the top three lawmakers in House Democratic leadership – said in a statement Wednesday, “The allegations of misconduct are serious and disturbing. We encourage the Committee to conduct a thorough and swift investigation.”
Gomez has said he would “cooperate with any Ethics Committee inquiry and provide it with whatever information it might need.”
The ethics panel said Monday that the existence of an investigation and public disclosure of the investigation “does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Alison Main and Annie Grayer contributed to this report
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