DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s former chief of staff sexually harassed two government workers while treating the office like a ‘dating pool’, an internal probe claims.
John Falcicchio, 44, was reportedly paid $230,000-a-year until he resigned on March 17 after two female employees accused him of unwanted sexual advances and ‘predatory behavior.’
Falcicchio was instrumental in Bowser’s rise from neighborhood activist to council member to three-term mayor in January 2015, and he has been her closest confidant and deputy mayor of planning economic development.
But this year, two internal probes by the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) found he treated their central Washington office like a ‘dating pool’ and ‘gave preferential assignments to women he found attractive.’
The first investigation, which concluded in June, found he twice demanded sex of a newly-hired female aide in her 20’s last year and sent her lewd messages on Snapchat including a ‘graphic video’ of himself masturbating.
John Falcicchio, 44, was reportedly paid $230,000-a-year until he resigned on March 17 after two female employees accused him of unwanted sexual advances and ‘predatory behavior’
Falcicchio was the closest confidant of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (pictured) over eight years as her chief of staff and deputy mayor of planning and economic development
During the second investigation, which was summarized in a report published Monday, the MOLC found that in 2020 Falcicchio made five ‘unwelcome sexual advances’ towards a second female staffer – whose age and position is unknown.
The first report said Falcicchio propositioned the aide in her 20’s to sex at his apartment on two occasions last year – September 28 and October 2 – and even ‘exposed his sexual organs’ to her the second time.
The young woman gave more details about ‘predatory’ advances allegedly made by her former boss during an anonymous June 24 interview with the Washington Post.
She said she was still on probation when he took her to the Crimson Whiskey Bar downtown DC, where he ordered them strong spirits and said ‘you can’t tell your bosses we did this’ before bringing her to his apartment and trying to kiss her.
The aide claimed that during the October encounter at his apartment, he masturbated in front of her, before sending her an unsolicited video of himself masturbating via Snapchat – an app which deletes communications once they have been viewed.
She told the Post she never had sex with the high-ranking official, but feigned interest to keep her job and to document his misconduct.
‘I’m here to get at the truth and some of that exposes me in a way that’s uncomfortable,’ she said.
The aide also claimed he ‘retaliated’ against her rejection of his advances by excluding her from work events and even threatening her by saying she could ‘go missing’ – although the probe was unable to substantiate these claims.
In further unconfirmed claims, she said he engaged in sexual conduct with at least 11 former and current staffers – with the probe agreeing with her assessment that he treated the office as ‘his dating ground’.
The June probe involved 32 interviews with 21 former and current employees, and analysis of thousands of emails, screenshots and messages.
Falcicchio himself refused to cooperate with investigators. DailyMail.com has reached out to Falcicchio’s lawyers for comment.
The first investigation into Falcicchio, which concluded in June, confirmed he twice demanded sex of a newly-hired female aide in her 20’s last year and sent her lewd messages on Snapchat including a ‘graphic video’ of himself masturbating
Two internal probes by the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel (MOLC) found he treated the office (pictured from outside) like a ‘dating pool’ and ‘gave preferential assignments to women he found attractive’
Mayor Muriel Bowser was a close friend of Falcicchio’s. Pictured: Falcicchio’s tweet sharing a photograph of him (second left) partying with the mayor and friends in July 2021
The second investigation found he sexually harassed another woman in his office, of unknown age and position.
It found Falcicchio made ‘unwelcome, physical sexual advances’ towards the woman while she was at his apartment for ‘work-related reasons’ on four occasions in 2020, along with a fifth unwanted advance at another location.
He also gave her ‘unwanted romantic attention’ in the form of ‘flirtatious messages’ and ‘asking personal questions about her romantic life to manipulate her into feeling comfortable with him’, the report said.
The women were represented by lawyers Debra S. Katz and Kayla Morin, of Katz Banks Kumin firm, who described their experiences as ‘extremely disturbing’ and reflecting ‘a longstanding pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior’.
They praised the women as ‘courageous’ for coming forward to seek ‘justice for themselves and other survivors’.
The lawyers urged anyone else affected by Falcicchio’s conduct to contact them via [email protected].
