Congresswoman and Colorado College graduate Dianna DeGette appeared in the sexual misconduct spotlight Wednesday, telling of old unwanted advances by former U.S. Rep Bob Filner.

DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, said Filner, a California Democrat, tried to force a kiss on her in an elevator years ago. She did not report the alleged aggression until now. As sages have long advised, what we don’t say matters most.

Filner went from secret elevator cad to mayor of San Diego. He resigned after an intern outed him for sexually harassing young women in the office.

“I was his colleague – he couldn’t take action against me, and believe you me, I never got in an elevator with him again,” DeGette said. “But what concerns me now, and this should concern everybody – what about the young staffers, what about the young interns. Was this happening to them too? I think we have to ask ourselves the question, is this happening with current members of Congress?”

The answer is almost certainly “yes.” A fraction of mature men in power have traditionally hit on, preyed upon, and otherwise sexually exploited young subordinates. With 535 members in Congress and thousands of prominent staffers, statistical probability tells us this happens today.

Powerful, mature women are in strong positions to intervene and empower their younger professional peers. DeGette worries about “young interns,” but may have spared them had she reported Filner’s misbehavior before he became mayor of America’s eight largest city and abused young women who answered to him.

DeGette was a powerful woman in Congress when several women accused President Bill Clinton, the most powerful man in the world at the time, of sexual misdeeds that included an allegation of forcible rape. Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones and Gennifer Flowers were written off as “bimbo eruptions” by inside Clinton supporters who refused to consider their complaints of abuse and impropriety against a president they admired.

A year after DeGette took office in 1997, news broke of Clinton inviting a young White House intern into the oval office for sexual activity.

After the Monica Lewinsky affair led to perjury and obstruction charges, contempt of court, impeachment, and disbarment, DeGette treated Clinton as a colleague and friend. Amid the scandal, DeGette rode through Denver with Clinton in the presidential limousine, on their way to Air Force One, talking about the religious right in Colorado Springs and Clinton’s views of Focus on the Family.

Two years ago, DeGette chummed it up with Bill Clinton at the Humboldt restaurant in Denver. A year ago Nov. 4, DeGette stood by Clinton in Denver and praised him by saying “it wouldn’t be a presidential election in Colorado” without him.

More than any other living person, DeGette’s friend and ally Bill Clinton symbolizes the problem of older men using their powerful positions to have sexual relations with young subordinates.

As a strong, independent woman, DeGette said “no” to sexual aggression on an elevator. Today, she rightly worries about exploitation of interns and other young women who answer to powerful men and may not have the strength to push them away.

The congresswoman’s concern is undoubtedly sincere and worthy of support. Meanwhile, DeGette’s years-long, friendly approval of Clinton dilutes and confuses her message.

Like many Clinton supporters, waging war against male aggression during a spate of allegations, DeGette should address the matter of Clinton and the multiple claims of serious abuse. She could help undo the culturally ingrained and problematic notion that some aggressors get a pass, because they are too big to fail.