The Bynum text message bombshell

Democrat Janelle Bynum didn't have time for campaign staff sexual abuse allegations; the fallout includes Democratic legislative leadership and the party's candidate for Attorney General

Text message exchange between State Rep. Janelle Bynum and her former campaign manager regarding allegations that a former Bynum campaign field director of “treating young women abusively.” Oregon Roundup redacted the name of the alleged abuser, because it has been unable to reach him for verification.

Shortly after the 2022 election, Democratic Oregon State Representative and now congressional candidate Janelle Bynum received text messages from her former campaign manager alleging that her former campaign field director of “treating young women abusively,” and suggesting if the field director got a job for the legislature in Salem, “this won’t be the last you hear of it, I promise.”

One campaign manager text message to Bynum included a screen shot of a June 2019 Twitter post accusing the then-Portland State University student who would later become Bynum’s field director of offering to buy the poster’s 16-year-old sister “dinner in exchange for sex” and of having harassed “lots of girls in Vancouver,” Washington.

Carroll’s promise proved true nearly two years later, when Fox News Digital published Saturday’s blockbuster report about a complaint filed by the former campaign manager for Bynum’s Democratic primary opponent, Jamie McLeod-Skinner, in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District with a legislative equity office tasked with addressing reports of abuse involving legislative employees, including legislators.

Bynum defeated McLeod-Skinner in May’s nasty Democratic primary, and now faces incumbent Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in one of the most closely watched U.S. House races in the country.

In response, Bynum texted her former campaign manager, identified by various Oregon media outlets as Conor Carroll, “I told you not to send me anything and I meant that. I really can’t take anything else on my plate.” Bynum had just been elected to her fourth term in the Oregon House of Representatives.

Bynum questioned the motivation behind Carroll’s “promise:” “Are you threatening me?”

Carroll responded, “Woah. Easy there. I am promising you and anyone else that I am not ok with someone treating young woman (sic) like that.”

Bynum concluded, “I’ll consider reporting your actions. Thank you for letting me know.”

Portland television station KATU reported Carroll’s text exchange with Bynum occurred immediately after Carroll’s telephonic exit interview with Bynum, in which he told KATU he began discussing the allegations against Bynum’s former field director, at which time Bynum promptly hung up on him.

Bynum says she reported allegations to Democratic campaign operation, not state agency or law enforcement.

At the time Bynum received the text messages from Carroll accusing the former field director of “treating young women abusively,” Bynum was, and is still, a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. Oregon law requires legislators to immediately report to the Department of Human Services or local law enforcement if they “have reasonable cause to believe . . . that any person with whom the official comes in contact has abused a child.”

Abuse is defined to include rape, assault, and offering to provide something of value to a minor in exchange for sex acts.

Bynum’s spokesperson told The Oregonian Bynum reported the allegation of abusive treatment of young women to Future PAC, Oregon House Democrats’ campaign operation which was the field director’s official employer while he was assigned to work on Bynum’s 2022 campaign. The Oregonian reported Bynum’s office provided contemporaneous text messages to Future PAC corroborating the notice. Bynum’s spokesperson has not responded to an inquiry yesterday from Oregon Roundup for copies of those text messages.

Oregon last two Speakers of the House, Dan Rayfield and Julie Fahey, ran the campaign operation that employed Bynum’s field director accused of abuse

As originally reported by Oregon Citizen, in November 2022, the directors of Future PAC were then-Speaker of the Oregon House Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) and then-Majority Leader and now-Speaker of the Oregon House Julie Fahey (D-Eugene). Rayfield resigned from the speaker position this March to focus on his campaign for Oregon Attorney General against Republican Will Lathrop, who has a background fighting child trafficking and exploitation.

Rayfield and Fahey were and are legislators, and are subject to the same mandatory reporting law as Bynum. Future PAC, as the legal employer of Bynum’s field director in 2022, owes other employees and the public a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent further abuse, according to Oregon employment law.

The Oregon Department of Justice, which Rayfield would lead if elected Attorney General next month, contains a division dedicated to protecting abused children, and provides information on its website about reporting child abuse to the state or local law enforcement.

Future PAC executive director Hannah Howell provided KATU a statement providing, “To our knowledge, no actionable complaints were made during the 2022 cycle that would have triggered an investigation under the terms of Future Pac's employment contract.” (Emphasis added).

In common political parlance, the “2022 campaign cycle” would have concluded with the election on November 8 of that year. Carroll sent his text messages to Bynum, reportedly leading to her reporting (“making”) them to Future PAC, on November 17, 2022. Above and beyond any employment contract, Oregon law generally requires employers to investigate and take action to prevent further abuse.

The Legislative Equity Office, which is tasked with investigating complaints from people who are the victims or witnesses of abuse, is reportedly taking no further action on the complaint originally reported by Fox News Digital. The Oregonian reported the Oregon State Police is investigating the complaint.

During a campaign event yesterday, KATU asked Bynum to address Carroll’s text messages. Bynum was ushered away by an aide, who explained Bynum did not have time to answer the question.