Cook, Hogsett Investigation Upsets Josh Bain

INDIANAPOLIS–Indianapolis Republican County Council member Josh Bain has some issues with the way council leaders have handled an investigation against Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and his former deputy mayor Thomas Cook.

Cook has been accused of sexual harassment by several women.

“When an investigative committee is formed, it actually has a crazy amount of authority that’s laid out in state statute. The State of Indiana gives the City County Council in Indianapolis the ability to create an investigative committee and it has subpoena power. The investigative committee could have subpoenaed Thomas Cook and they didn’t. We need to know why they didn’t,” said Bain in a Tuesday morning interview with 93 WIBC’s Kendall and Casey.

A $500,000, seven-month independent investigation by Fisher Phillips into the response to harassment complaints against Cook found the mayor and his administration did not break any laws or policies at the time.

Mark Sniderman, the attorney for the women who made the initial complaints, confirmed the Fisher Phillips report fails to account for multiple text messages sent to and from Hogsett. Bain agrees that not everything put in for the law firm to see.

“We need the full evidence that was submitted to Fisher Phillips. We need to see the full interview logs, the text messages, the notes and more. We need to know what contracts Thomas Cook entered into during that 60 some day period where he was left to basically do whatever he wanted,” said Bain.

Bain is referring to Cook remaining in his position 68 days after being asked to resign in 2020. However, Cook was hired for Hogsett’s 2023 mayoral campaign and then later ultimately fired.

Bain and other Republican members of the Indianapolis City-County Council are pushing for more transparency in this matter in the form of a public oversight hearing. The Republican caucus says these actions are essential to rebuilding public confidence and ensuring a complete and honest record.

Lauren Roberts is one of the former campaign staffers who accused Cook of sexual harassment last summer. She was forcibly removed Monday from a City-County Council meeting after trying to speak about the investigation.

“After 20 or 30 seconds, you start cutting off Roberts and you get in a shouting match with a sexual harassment survivor who’s just trying to tell her story because Council Democrats have ignored them up to this point. It’s ridiculous,” said Bain when talking about the way Roberts was treated on Monday.