In 2014, a survey conducted among Capitol Hill personnel identified Representative Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas as one of the least amiable members of Congress. Fast forward three years, and this congresswoman once again grabbed headlines, this time due to an incident during a flight. More recently, a rather unfavorable audio recording depicting her alleged treatment of her staff surfaced on social media.
Congressman Lee is presently in the running for the position of the next mayor of Houston. ABC13 managed to acquire a recording purportedly featuring Lee conversing with a staff member approximately five years ago. Within this recording, the voice attributed to the congressman expresses frustration when the individual she is speaking to is unable to provide the requested information. Someone mentions that another person named Jerome supposedly possesses the required information.
In the recording, the individual expresses her belief that when she requests the information from Jerome, he will likely be sitting there, seemingly ignorant, and talking about matters he lacks knowledge of. She proceeds to describe the person she’s conversing with and Jerome as making significant errors in their actions.
Lee’s campaign pointed fingers at her mayoral race opponent, State Senator John Whitmire (a Democrat), accusing him of attempting to undermine her campaign. A statement issued by the campaign labeled this as a sly political maneuver aimed at tarnishing her reputation. The statement further asserted that these allegations originated from conservative media sources and had the support of Whitmire.
The congresswoman’s campaign had consistently declined to confirm if the voice in the recording was hers. Nevertheless, as reported by The Texas Tribune, Rep. Lee has acknowledged remorse regarding the situation in question, acknowledging her imperfections. Whitmer’s campaign asserts that they played no role in the public release of the recording.
This is not the first time allegations of mistreatment have been directed at Lee. In 2017, she was reportedly involved in an airplane incident that led to the reassignment of another woman from her first-class seat to make room for Lee. In a separate incident dating back to 1998, Lee was allegedly engaged in a dispute with airline staff due to her inability to obtain seafood on a flight.
