Roberts' legal settlements over sex assault claims become issue in race

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Two weeks ago, Missouri state Sen. Steve Roberts Jr., who is mounting a Democratic primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, released the legal settlement he’d reached with a former state official who’d publicly accused him of rape. Roberts surely hoped to get out from under the claims that had dogged him in 2017 — and which, after the recent death of his accuser, former Missouri Rep. Cora Faith Walker, increasingly became an issue for his campaign.

But Roberts’ move appeared to backfire when a second accuser, Amy Harms, released Roberts’ once-confidential settlement with her — showing Roberts’ insurance company had paid Harms $100,000 after she accused him of groping her at a bar.

Roberts claimed his insurance company had settled Harms’ claim against his will. He also suggested the settlement was vindication, since the policy expressly didn’t cover claims arising from sexual assault. If he was guilty, the argument went, the insurance carrier would have let him handle it on his own.