Josh Shapiro says he 'didn't know' top aide was being investigated for sexual harassment for months after it began

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's office has claimed that he was not made aware of accusations made against his top aide until "months" after they surfaced.  This follows reports of sexual harassment accusations against former aide Mike Vereb that have resurfaced as Shapiro has become a frontrunner to be Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick.

Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro's office, told the New York Times of the accusations that Vereb made repeated, graphic sexual remarks towards a female employee, with Vereb then allegedly criticizing her job performance when she refused his advances, that Shapiro "was not aware of the complaint or investigation until months after the complaint was filed," and that Shapiro should have been made aware of these allegations sooner.

Shapiro’s office has been accused of providing legal advice to then-Secretary of Legislative Affairs Mike Vereb all the while allegedly investigating Vereb for workplace harassment claims made by a subordinate in March 2023. Vereb resigned from his position in September 2023, with the move being linked to allegations of workplace harassment from a female deputy who had worked in Vereb’s office but resigned only a month after taking the job.

The allegations of harassment and sexual assault were settled out of court for $295,000.

Of this settlement, a Shapiro spokesperson told ABC News, "Shapiro and his Administration take every allegation of discrimination and harassment extremely seriously and have robust procedures in place to thoroughly investigate all reports," but "in order to protect the privacy of every current and former Commonwealth employee involved, the Administration does not comment further on specific personnel matters."

A second incident related to the former Shapiro aide has come to light in recent days, this time for allegedly threatening a woman on a phone call in 2018, claiming she would be "worse than nothing" once he and Shapiro were "done with" her.

According to ABC News, Vereb allegedly told the woman during the 2018 phone call, "by the time he and Josh were done with me, I would be worse than nothing," the woman said. ABC reported that there had been "no evidence" that Shapiro was aware of the call.

"You are going to continue to be nothing by the time Josh and I get done with you," she quoted to the outlet, adding that, "Obviously part of what left me shaken was not just Mr. Vereb's aggressive and unrelenting tone, but how freely he made it seem he was speaking beyond himself."

The woman wrote in a 2023 email to one of Shapiro's deputy chiefs of staff and a group of state legislators, sent within weeks of Vereb’s resignation, "[Vereb] confronted and threatened me that evening leaving me weeping and in shock standing alone in a parking lot. Then and now I was struck by how he seemed so at ease in threatening me."

She said that Vereb was "naming a handful of folks with some power in Harrisburg," and made "some implication of the OAG," the Office of the Attorney General. The 2018 phone call she received came during a policy dispute between her nonprofit advocacy group for abused children and the attorney general’s office.

The woman stated in the email, obtained by ABC News, that she had raised the issue in 2018. One of those she raised the issue to was a member of Shapiro’s office who "compassionately listened" but later passed away before being able to get back to her. 

A Republican lawmaker who received the woman’s 2023 email, State Rep. Abby Major, told the outlet, "[Vereb and Shapiro] have a history of Mike being his enforcer -- they play good cop, bad cop. Mike [was] out doing Josh's dirty work so Josh can be the guy that everybody loves."

Bonder said that the then-attorney general was not made aware of the complaint and condemned Vereb’s actions. "This incident occurred 6 years ago and was not reported to agency leadership at the time," Bonder said in a statement. "This alleged behavior would be completely inappropriate and would not be tolerated—and any use of the Governor's name in this manner is unacceptable."