The woman who claims Democratic Congressman Ruben Kihuen sexually harassed her has provided text messages to the I-Team.
This is the first time those messages are being made public.
The allegations became public Friday, Dec. 1 when BuzzFeed News reported the former campaign worker left her job because of repeated unwanted propositions for dates and sex from Kihuen.
Kihuen released a statement saying he apologizes for anything he may have said or done, but also that he didn’t recall doing what she described.
Some leaders have called for Kihuen’s resignation, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Kihuen has not appeared in public or released another statement since then.
The I-Team talked with the woman making the accusations and obtained text messages she sent to others while she was still working for the campaign that detailed the alleged harassment.
The former campaign finance director asked to be identified only by her first name, Samantha. She says, she texted her friend around the time she claims Ruben Kihuen was acting inappropriately when he was running for Congress and she contacted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
In these messages which appear to be from March of 2016, Samantha says, “Our candidate says randomly creepy things to me sometimes…”
“Put his hand on my thigh a couple times….”
“Asked me weird questions once like if I’d ever cheated on my boyfriend?”
“Said a couple of times he would take me out if I didn’t work for him.”
Her friend responds, “He has crossed way over the line into lawsuit territory.”
In one message, she makes contact with someone at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also called D triple C.
Later, her friend asks how that conversation went.
She responds, “He seemed kind of upset. Said he’s going to follow up with other people at d trip, otherwise I don’t know what they’re doing about it.”
And a message a month later, “Bill Clinton just endorsed Ruben. Ruben who kept trying to hit on me.”
The response, “Well. I guess it takes one to know one.”
The now 27-year-old woman ended up quitting her job in the Kihuen campaign and as you know, Kihuen became a U.S. congressman.
She tells the I-Team she appreciates how her story has drawn attention to the inappropriate behavior women face in campaigns.
And she is thankful for the statements of support from leaders in Washington and Nevada. The latest from Governor Brian Sandoval Tuesday.
She says, when Kihuen walked her to her car and suggested he’d like to take her out and she told him she had a boyfriend and left, Kihuen didn’t stop. And there were a couple of instances after that.
She says she tried setting that clear boundary of no.
The I-Team reached out to Congressman Ruben Kihuen for an interview. At this point, he has not agreed to sit down with us.
