INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said Wednesday he does not know what will come of the investigation into claims of sexual harassment against his former top aide Thomas Cook.

The mayor appeared at an afternoon event for the opening of a mixed-use building on the Old Southside, where he was peppered with questions from the media about how the allegations investigation was proceeding.

“You guess is as good as mine. We obviously have some idea of the nature of the allegations that were made by Miss (Lauren) Roberts and Miss (Caroline) Ellert, but how broad that investigation becomes, I guess that’s to be determined.”

News 8 has previously reported that Cook was found to have made inappropriate romantic advances on a coworker in 2014 while employed by Hogsett’s campaign, and the administration knew about it in 2017.

Three women in total have accused Cook of sexual misconduct. Ellert and Roberts spoke Aug. 13 with News 8.

The Democrat mayor also was asked Wednesday about his choice to bring Cook back to work on his 2023 reelction campaign.

The mayor said he was unaware of the earlier allegations until 2023 when Cook was let go a second time.

“Well, you’re right. He had not worked for me for three or four years and he offered to help. The campaign got started in earnest, I believe, in November or December of 2022. I was made aware of additional allegations against Mr. Cook in October or September of 2023, and, given the investigation that was conducted, he was given the option to no longer work on the campaign, and the contracts that he obtained in his private-sector employment practice were canceled. I didn’t know anything about 2018 or 2019 until October or September of 2023.”

Hogsett earlier in August changed the sexual harassment training requirements for city government employees.

“Well, there’s no question that order I issued last week, which requires sexual harassment training for all city employees annually, every year, is something, in retrospect, I wish we had implemented earlier. The old process was once you were trained, upon your employment, if you were not a supervisor, you were not required to do the every-other-year, annual training. That was just required of supervisors. Now, pursuant to my executive order, every employee in the city-county enterprise will go through that training every year from now on.”

Also on Wednesday, the city-county government rolled out a new anonymous website for employees to report sexual harassment.

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Lamar Couser and Allen Von Plinsky joined us to talk about an important event for veterans.

The Indianapolis Veterans Job Fair will be held on Thursday, August 29th, at Lucas Oil Stadium from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern.

This job fair, hosted by DAV & RecruitMilitary, aims to help veterans, transitioning military members, and their families find employment opportunities.

Registration is free and available online.

This event is a great chance for veterans to connect with employers and explore new career paths.

The Indianapolis Colts cut down their roster to 53 players yesterday, but they may not be finished making moves.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Clarence Hill Jr. reports that after a visit with the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, former All-Pro running back Dalvin Cook may have a visit with the Colts.

“A Cowboys source said RB Dalvin Cook was in good shape but they are only interested in possibly signing him to practice squad at this point,” Hill posted on X. “Cook may have another visit with Colts. He has some decisions to make.”

Cook has been one of the best running backs in the NFL over the past few years. After being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2017, Cook became the team’s lead back in his second season and saw his career take off. Cook has rushed for 6,207 yards and 47 touchdowns in his career while being selected to four straight Pro Bowls from 2019-2022.

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However, 2023 saw Cook fall off a cliff in terms of production. After the Vikings released Cook for salary cap purposes, he signed with the New York Jets and only gained 214 yards on 67 carries in 15 games. It was a far cry from the 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns he tallied in 2022.

Signing Cook would be a puzzling move for the Colts. It is no secret the lead back in Indy is Jonathan Taylor, who the Colts feel will have a huge year next to Anthony Richardson. The Colts have also publically voiced their confidence in backups Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson.

However, the Colts only kept three running backs on the roster after waiving Evan Hull during roster cuts. If the Colts bring in Cook and determine he would add depth to the room, Cook would compete with Sermon and Goodson for the backup role to Taylor. The Colts will likely be active on the waiver wire as they search to add talent cut from other teams.

The Colts take on the Houston Texans in 11 days to kick off the 2024 regular season. Time will tell if Cook is a part of Indy’s opening-day roster.

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