Closing the book on an ugly chapter.
A lawsuit accusing a former Congressional candidate and a member of his campaign staff of sexual misconduct in 2023 was dropped earlier this month following a settlement out of court, according to Harris County District Clerk’s Office records.
Details of the settlement between Pervez Agwan, a Democratic primary candidate in the 2024 Congressional District 18 race, and Maha Chishtey, a junior staffer with the campaign, were not made public. An order of non-suit was signed by 55th Civil District Court Judge Lotosha Lewis Payne on May 6, according to court records.
In a statement about the settlement of the case, Agwan maintained that the allegations against him and the campaign are false.
“I am grateful to the voters in TX-07 for giving me the opportunity to serve them,” Agwan said. “It was truly the honor and privilege of my lifetime to run for office to represent Houston in the U.S. Congress.”
Agwan declined to answer questions about the terms of the settlement. He also said he has no plans to run for elected office in the future.
An attorney for Chishtey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chishtey accused Agwan of overseeing a pattern of sexual misconduct among male senior staffers working for the campaign that played out over several months in the second half of 2023. Chishtey quit her job that October after she said Agwan tried to kiss her when they were alone in the campaign headquarters after work and he prevented her from leaving the office when she rebuffed his advances.
See here for a bit of background. There are links in this story to previous stories by the Houston Landing about the allegations, and you should read them as well. I asked Agwan about this when I interviewed him for the 2024 primary, and, well. I wasn’t impressed by his response. We may never know the terms of the settlement, which come about four weeks before the trial would have taken place. The allegations were awful, and the defense was aggressive. I hope Ms. Chishtey and all of the former staffers who resigned before the lawsuit was filed are doing well.