Aug 13, 2024
Indianapolis has had a bright spotlight on it in 2024. The Olympic swimming time trials in Lucas Oil Stadium, the NBA All-Star game, and the arrival of the biggest name in sports, Caitlin Clark. Now the city is ground zero for something shameful.
Mayor Joe Hogsett is under fire for his mishandling of numerous sexual harassment allegations made against former Chief Deputy Mayor Thomas Cook. The first known allegations were made in 2017, and in recent weeks, extensive reporting has been done on the matter by the Indianapolis Star and Mirror Indy. What we already know from their reporting is terrible.
More terrible news is coming. Count on it.
The book, “Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics” and its movie adaptation have been on my mind the last few weeks. This roman é clef, French for “novel with a key,” was first published by Anonymous in 1996. It’s an insider’s tale of a fictitious southern governor, Jack Stanton, and his 1992 primary campaign for the presidency.
Read the book or watch the movie. “Stanton” is Bill Clinton. The author was later to be revealed as Joe Klein, a columnist for Time magazine who covered Clinton’s real-life 1992 campaign. The book detailing this corrupt, womanizing character, and importantly, his campaign team, was published more than two years before the world met Monica Lewinsky.
Lauren Roberts was a deputy campaign manager on Hogsett’s 2015 reelection campaign. She was apparently the first to complain about Cook’s harassment via email in 2017. Hogsett’s initial unresponsiveness led to her direct, in-person report to the mayor in 2019. Hogsett claims action was taken, though it wasn’t ever communicated with Roberts. She has since relocated to Denver. But she kept all of the receipts.
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