By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — Taxpayers have paid more than $300,000 in confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of six former members of the House of Representatives or their offices, according to GOP Rep. Nancy Mace and documents reviewed by CNN.

The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights was compelled to turn over the settlement documents to Congress following a subpoena from Mace, who has helped lead an effort on Capitol Hill to push for transparency and accountability following sexual misconduct allegations that led to a pair of high-profile resignations.

A CNN review of over 1,000 pages of case files, including counsel notes, settlement documents and formal complaints, offers a window into allegations that certain members leveraged their positions of power to mistreat their staff.

The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights is involved with a range of complaints against members, not exclusively sexual harassment claims.

From January 1, 1996, through December 12, 2018, the office approved 349 awards or settlements “to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices,” its general counsel said in a letter sent to House Oversight Chair James Comer obtained by CNN. Eighty of those cases were settled by a House or Senate office for a host of different reasons. From that subset, seven cases led to payments to address allegations of sexual harassment. The payments referenced in the letter used taxpayer money from a Treasury account that no longer exists as an option for lawmakers.

Twenty-three case files of settlements in the jurisdiction of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights were destroyed pursuant to the office’s record retention policy.

“This ‘OCWR Record Retention Policy’ was put in place in 2013 to align OCWR with regular government-wide record retention practices,” General Counsel John N. Ohlweiler wrote.

The general language of the settlement contracts reviewed by CNN do not have the accused office admitting to any wrongdoing, but rather state the office is agreeing to the settlement “to avoid the inconvenience of protracted litigation and the expense to the parties and the taxpayers of such litigation,” as one settlement read. The settlement agreements also lay out how the office is meant to handle questions related to the terms or conditions of the claimant’s termination of employment.

Following policy changes made in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo Movement, members could no longer rely on taxpayer dollars for settlements. The House Ethics Committee announced in a recent statement that since the enactment of the new law, “the Committee has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment by a member.”

Mace named six former lawmakers or lawmakers’ offices involved in the settlements totaling more than $300,000 in an X post on Monday. Most of the members named by the congresswoman resigned from Congress after publicly facing allegations of sexual misconduct, including former Reps. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, and Blake Farenthold, a Texas Republican.

In several of these cases, it was publicly reported prior to their resignations that the member had used taxpayer funds for settlements.

CNN has attempted to reach out to either the former member or a representative for all six members named by Mace. Three of the former lawmakers named by the congresswoman, including Conyers and Farenthold, are deceased.

In 2017, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Conyers, who at the time denied any wrongdoing, but did not dispute the existence of a settlement or payment. The documents show that a severa

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

(CNN) — When Beyoncé was announced as a co-chair of this year’s Met Gala, it signaled the end of her decade-long hiatus away from the annual Costume Institute fundraiser — which became a globally watched phenomenon in the 2010s thanks to appearances from superstars like her.

It wasn’t a surprise then that the singer arrived at the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a look that combined the illusion of a naked dress with an unfathomable number of crystals, a headpiece, and a feathered train that took six people to carry. After all, those are the hallmarks of a Beyoncé Met Gala look. What was more unexpected was her oldest daughter, Blue Ivy, stepping out just behind her for her very first Met Gala appearance.

“It feels surreal because my daughter is here. She looks so beautiful. It’s incredible to share it with her. She is ready,” Beyoncé told Vogue on the red carpet. What she was looking forward to most: “Just experiencing this through the eyes of Blue.”

Throughout last year’s Cowboy Carter Tour, the teen shadowed her mom in looks coordinated for the shows, which, along with her sweet moments with younger sister Rumi, quickly became one of the most talked-about highlights.

But at the Met Gala, Blue Ivy charted her own path. Beyoncé’s showstopping ensemble, designed by Olivier Rousteing, who stepped down from Balmain last year, was quite literally an opulent skeleton — part armor, part gown, with ombre feathers trailing behind her. Next to her, Blue Ivy opted for crisp white Balenciaga, wearing a wide-lapeled bomber jacket over a corseted bubble-hemmed gown, along with a pair of shades. Beyoncé often relies on her longtime collaborators like Rousteing, and the garments came together with styling by Ty Hunter, who has worked with her since her Destiny’s Child days and appeared next to her on the red carpet. Blue Ivy is still stepping into her style, opting for Pierpaolo Piccioli’s new vision for Balenciaga.

The Carter family (yes, Jay-Z was there, too — in Louis Vuitton) were not the last to arrive, since that honor usually goes to Rihanna, who knows how to make the final entrance. But they did cap the night with a Big Moment, after a dizzying number of guest arrivals and interpretations all hoped to best interpret the theme “Fashion is Art.”

It was an open brief, and while there was plenty of Klimt-inspired gold, soft-hued Grecian draping and even a splash of “Judith-beheading-Holofernes” red (as interpreted by Lena Dunham), many celebrities chose to focus on the overarching theme throughout the exhibition of the interplay between the body and fashion as a form of art. And Rousteing has spent years creating sculptural tour costumes for the singer that do just that. At the Met Gala, her gown was about “celebrating what God gave you,” she explained on the red carpet — down to the last glittering finger bone.

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Por John Fritze, CNN

La Corte Suprema despejó el camino el lunes para que Louisiana redibuje un mapa congresional intensamente disputado que el tribunal había dictaminado días antes que era una manipulación racial inconstitucional de distritos, una decisión altamente técnica que, sin embargo, desencadenó una serie de idas y venidas entre tres conservadores y un miembro del ala progresista del tribunal.

La breve orden abordó una cuestión sobre cuándo entró en vigor en Louisiana la decisión histórica del Tribunal Supremo que desmanteló la Ley de Derecho al Voto. El estado se está preparando rápidamente para redibujar sus mapas de cara a las elecciones intermedias de este año y suspendió sus primarias para la Cámara de Representantes de EE.UU. tras el fallo del alto tribunal del miércoles.

Más notable que la decisión en sí, que era ampliamente esperada, fue la tensión que se expuso en breves escritos del juez Samuel Alito, un conservador, y de la jueza Ketanji Brown Jackson, una progresista.

Al escribir en disenso, Jackson dijo que los “acontecimientos posteriores a la decisión tienen un fuerte trasfondo político”. Y sugirió que el tribunal debería haberse mantenido al margen “para evitar la apariencia de parcialidad”.

“No satisfecho con haber decidido la ley”, escribió Jackson sobre la mayoría, “ahora da pasos para influir en su implementación”. La decisión del tribunal de “apartarse de nuestra práctica habitual”, añadió, “equivale a una aprobación de la prisa de Louisiana por pausar la elección en curso con el fin de aprobar un nuevo mapa”.

Alito respondió bruscamente al disenso de Jackson, describiendo sus puntos como “triviales en el mejor de los casos” e “infundados e insultantes”.

“El disenso continúa afirmando que nuestra decisión representa un uso de poder sin principios”, escribió Alito en una breve concurrencia a la que se sumaron los jueces conservadores Clarence Thomas y Neil Gorsuch. “Esa es una acusación infundada y totalmente irresponsable”.

Jackson fue la única jueza en señalar un disenso.

La crudeza del escrito fue sorprendente dado lo que, en última instancia, estaba en juego. Por lo general, el Tribunal Supremo emite su “sentencia” 32 días después de dictar una decisión. Una vez emitida la sentencia, el tribunal inferior recupera el control del caso y puede avanzar —en este caso, fijando los próximos pasos para la redistribución de distritos en Louisiana.

Ese breve retraso da tiempo para que la parte perdedora solicite una reconsideración, algo que casi nunca ocurre. Pero las reglas del tribunal también permiten que los jueces aceleren la emisión de la sentencia, y esa es la cuestión con la que el tribunal ha estado lidiando desde la semana pasada.

En una avalancha de escritos posteriores al fallo de la semana pasada, el estado y dos grupos de votantes que impugnaron diversas versiones del mapa se enfrentaron sobre qué tan rápido se finalizaría esa decisión.

Horas después de que una mayoría de 6-3 anulara el mapa de Louisiana, un grupo de votantes blancos que inicialmente lo impugnó presentó una apelación de emergencia pidiendo al tribunal que acelerara ese proceso para darle al estado todo el tiempo necesario para redibujar. Un grupo de votantes negros que defendió el mapa se opuso a esa propuesta el jueves, instando al tribunal, en cambio, a aplazar la finalización de su decisión hasta las elecciones generales de noviembre —una solicitud con pocas probabilidades de prosperar.

En medio de esas idas y venidas, la propia Louisiana presentó un escrito afirmando que no importaba cómo manejara la Corte Suprema la cuestión técnica de su “sentencia” porque los legisladores estatales estaban preparados

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) Pascucci, a staple Italian Restaurant in Santa Barbara, will soon have a new name and a new concept.

After 33 years, owner Laura Knight said Pascucci will bid "Ciao" to Santa Barbara.

She sais moving her liquor license from lower State Street to it 1230 State Street location near the Granada Theatre is slow going.

The owner of her old location had new plans for the building.

Now Knight plans to change the name of her business and cater to the Theatre District.

"We are going to be open for another month plus we are n the process of transferring our liquor license to this location it has been a challenging year and we just made the decision around the holidays to try something new," said Knight."

Customers can still count on Pascucci's on this Mother's Day.

"We are opening this weekend on Mother's Day and I'll be baking homemade cookies and we will have chocolate covered strawberries for all of our guest to celebrate the mom's that we love"

Knight said they will be open as Pascucci's for at least another month or so.

Then they hope to reopen and serve up items customers may want after going to the theatre.

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