Esty Should Release Documents.

Embattled U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) ought to release documents pertaining to her handling of allegations of violence in her Washington office. The third-term Democrat has stumbled in trying to provide a coherent explanation of her decision to allow her chief of staff, Anthony Baker, to remain in her office for three months after she learned of his brutal behavior in 2016.

Esty provided $5,000 in severance and a letter of recommendation to Baker. The anti-Pelosi plotter and Baker entered into a non-disclosure agreement that she told staff members also bound them. Esty appears, however, to have made documents available to the Washington Post. She ought to release them to the public. If she is confident in her declarations that House procedures left her no alternative but to accommodate Baker, that ought to be clear in the documents such as letters and emails to and from her and the Office of House Employment Counsel. Some of them must reveal her discomfort if she’s telling the truth.

Esty is defying calls to resign from a growing list of frustrated and bewildered Connecticut Democrats. Documents that bolster her claims might reassure her uneasy defenders.

This week may reveal how many supporters Esty has in Washington.