Agwan campaign is trying to move past misconduct allegations. Its accusers won’t let it.

For those living in Texas’ 7th Congressional District, it looks like business as usual for Pervez Agwan’s campaign for the Democratic nomination. Eye-catching “Agwan for Congress” campaign signs dot the sides of roads and advertisements on social media appear with frequency on phone screens. There is little evidence of a direct response to the sexual misconduct allegations directed at Agwan and a member of his senior staff by former campaign workers that became public in early December after one of the former staffers filed a lawsuit against the candidate and the campaign. Despite the loss of endorsements and a mass resignation of mostly female staff in late October and early November, Agwan is attempting to charge ahead to the March 5 Super Tuesday primary election against incumbent U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher while quietly putting the scandal to rest.

A spokesperson for the campaign invited the Houston Landing to interview Campaign Manager Alex Inkiow in late December. Inkiow offered an account of four months of internal strife while denying the key allegations against Agwan and Organizing Director Angelo Perlera. His assertions were contradicted in separate interviews with several ex-staffers accusing Perlera, Agwan and a former senior campaign staff member of sexual misconduct. Inkiow’s key claim that senior staff were unaware of any reported inappropriate workplace behavior by Perlera prior to a lawsuit being filed on Dec. 1 is contradicted by text messages shared by former staffers and the campaign’s own statement in response to the filing of the lawsuit. The campaign did not respond to requests from the Landing for any internal correspondence that could support its claim that it was unaware of the allegations, and Agwan failed to appear for a scheduled interview. In the lawsuit and subsequent interviews, former staffers allege there were three patterns of misconduct by three men with the campaign. The first allegation is the only one Inkiow acknowledged.