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Two men who worked for Miami Beach Republican Rep. Fabián Basabe are suing him for battery and defamation, alleging a pattern of sexual harassment.
Former staffers Nicolas Frevola and Jacob Cutbirth say Basabe repeatedly made sexual comments and advances toward them and on several occasions slapped, grope or tried kissing them.
The lawsuit, which seeks over $100,000 in damages, comes a week after the end of a House probe into Frevola’s claim Basabe slapped his face at a January party in Tallahassee. Investigators found “inconclusive” evidence the incident occurred as Frevola described.
Basabe’s lawyer called the lawsuit “frivolous and meritless.”
– Jesse Scheckner, Florida Politics