Mother Jones journalist David Corn joked about rape, gave 'unwelcome shoulder rubs': Emails

Mother Jones journalist David Corn was counseled three years ago about inappropriately touching female employees, the magazine said Thursday. (Wikimedia Commons)

What would Mother Jones have said about this?

Emails from 2014 and 2015 suggest that a top editor for the progressive magazine Mother Jones sexually assaulted subordinates and made inappropriate comments about their bodies, a report said.

The disclosures regarding Washington bureau chief David Corn prompted the magazine’s editor and chief executive to announce Thursday that they would investigate Corn’s conduct for the second time in three years, Politico reported.

Copies of the two emails, written by former Mother Jones staffers, were obtained by Politico.

Corn, now 58, often joked about rape and “regularly” gave “unwelcome shoulder rubs” to several women, according to the email written in 2015.

The email also alleged that Corn “engaged in uninvited touching of their legs, arms, backs and waists” and “made inappropriate comments about women’s sexuality and anatomy.”

The 2014 email, which was written by a female employee, charged that Corn “came up behind me and put his hands and arms around my body in a way that felt sexual and domineering.”

Mother Jones disclosed Thursday that Corn had been counseled three years ago about inappropriately touching female employees and referring inappropriately to sexual violence, according to Politico.

But top magazine officials, who vowed to “seriously” investigate the allegations in the 2015 and 2014 emails, insisted to Politico that employees had previously raised concerns only about “nonsexual touching” by Corn.

Corn, who authored the 2007 Iraq war book “Hubris” with Michael Isikoff, said in a statement to Politico that his behavior had been misinterpreted.

“I am an exuberant person and have been known to pat male and female colleagues on the shoulder or slap them on the back, but always in a collegial or celebratory way,” Corn said. “I have never touched any work colleague in a sexual manner. Once concerns were raised about this type of contact, I have been mindful to avoid it to prevent any misperception. If anyone ever perceived any of this as ‘sexual’ or ‘domineering,’ I am sorry — that was never my intent. Sexual violence is not funny, and I have never joked about it, or about women’s sexuality and anatomy.”

"I am an exuberant person and have been known to pat male and female colleagues on the shoulder or slap them on the back, but always in a collegial or celebratory way."

— David Corn, Washington bureau chief at Mother Jones magazine

But several current and former Mother Jones staffers told Politico that the environment in the company’s Washington office was “uncomfortable for women.”

Corn had previously mocked President Donald Trump on the topic of sexual assault. He tweeted in March: "When it comes to raising awareness about sexual assault, Donald Trump leads by example."

Corn isn’t the only progressive bigwig to face sexual misconduct allegations this week. In a misogynistic 2000 memoir about his time as an editor in Russia, high-profile Rolling Stone magazine journalist Matt Taibbi and co-author Mark Ames described mistreating and sexually harassing young women.

After the memoir resurfaced this week, Taibbi -- who released the anti-Trump book “Insane Clown President” earlier this year -- responded to the criticism by describing the memoir as satirical.