Connecticut lawmaker Ernest Hewett, D-New London, under fire for comments on women

HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut lawmaker Ernest Hewett (D-New London) came under fire on Friday after making comments to a 17-year-old girl during a Feb. 20 budget hearing that some have described as lewd.

Hewett lost his role on Friday as deputy speaker of the House, but told the Hartford Courant that he would not step down from his seat. He’s been a member of the state House for eight years.

Hewett reportedly said to the girl that he had a snake beneath his desk. Democratic leadership in the house decided it was sexual innuendo, according to the Courant’s report.

Hewett also told the Courant that he had no history or problem with women, but did not want a female intern in his office.

“I purposely will not have female interns,” he told the Hartford paper. “My intern now is a male. I want to keep it like that. I’ve had female interns in the past that sit in my office all day. I thought it was totally weird and I didn’t want another.”

Read the Hartford Courant's full report | http://cour.at/VXq0e8

Hewett also told the paper he went several years without an intern because he only wanted male interns, and couldn’t control who was assigned to him.

“They may give me a female, but I don’t want a female intern,” he told Courant staff. “That may sound sexist, but I really don’t. That way that keeps me good, and that keeps everybody else good.”