The Texas Tribune reports that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) has stepped down from two influential posts in the wake of a brewing scandal.  Rep. Jackson Lee who was reported by the Houston Press to have previously claimed, “I’m a queen. I deserve to be treated like a queen” is in trouble for firing a staffer who reported a rape by a supervisor at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation where SJL had served as board chairwoman.  SJL is also “temporarily” stepping down from her position on the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on crime, terrorism, homeland security and investigations.

The 13-term congresswoman will no longer serve as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s board chairwoman and will temporarily step aside from her position as chair on the Judiciary Committee’s crime, terrorism, homeland security and investigations subcommittee[.]

At issue is her spring 2018 termination of a staffer known in court filings as “Jane Doe,” who alleged that a supervising CBCF staffer raped her in 2015 when she was an intern for the foundation. Doe later went to work for Jackson Lee and claims that she informed the congresswoman’s chief of staff that she planned to pursue legal action against the CBCF staffer and was fired several weeks later.

Many on both side of the political spectrum in the Houston community would be glad to see Jackson Lee out of office.  The report of retaliation by SJL against a rape victim has made some start questioning her continued viability within the House Democratic power structure.