Anyone claiming a partisan witch hunt against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill will have to rethink an inconvenient part of that proposed storyline.
Hill’s accusers include Indiana Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Muster; Gabrielle McLemore, communications director for Indiana Senate Democrats; Niki DaSilva, a Republican Indiana Senate legislative assistant; and Samantha Lozano, a Democratic Indiana House legislative assistant.
The lawsuit and its accusations illustrate why Hill should step down from public office to keep the stain and distraction of scandal off of this high public office.
A separate notable chorus — one specifically calling for Hill to step down — was led last year by top members of Hill’s own political party.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) and former Senate President David Long all asked for Hill to resign.
Hill has refused, and that is his right. But it’s difficult to imagine an effective way forward for Hill, given the severity of the accusations, which are specific and disturbing.
DaSilva last year said Hill told her and other women at the bar that night, “You’ve got to show a little skin” in order to get drink service.
A few minutes later, DaSilva contends, she attempted to push away Hill’s groping hand from her lower back when “he grabbed my hand and moved both of our hands over my butt, lingering there before releasing me.”
Hill would respond later that his office received an email somehow indicating DaSilva was coached into the account.
Now DaSilva, McLemore, Lozano and Candelaria Reardon, the Munster representative who claims Hill forced his hand onto her back and backside that night, want to tell their stories in a federal court.
“The inappropriate and inexcusable behaviors exhibited by Attorney General Hill were experienced by multiple women of both political parties, from both chambers and in varying positions within the Legislature,” DaSilva said last year.
It’s difficult to imagine Hill being able to effectively fulfill the sworn duties of his office under the weight and continued distraction of such accusations.
He should step down.