Herman Cain to speak at press conference in Phoenix as he says Sharon
Bialek allegations are part of a smear campaign
Associated Press
Tuesday November 8 2011
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/08/herman-cain-sexual-assault-claims
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has planned a news
conference on Tuesday to deal with the latest in a string of sexual
conduct claims that have rocked his campaign.
Cain has denied the allegations as a smear campaign designed to upend
his rise to the top of the polls.
"There is not an ounce of truth to all these allegations," Cain told
late-night TV talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel. The graphic, televised
account from Sharon Bialek is "totally fabricated," he said.
Cain vowed to "set the record straight". He will answer reporters'
questions at an appearance in Phoenix, reversing course after saying
on Saturday that he was done talking about the claims of sexual
harassment that first became public with the airing of anonymous
claims by two other women more than a week ago.
Bialek went on television on Monday, becoming the fourth woman to
accuse Cain and the first to go public. Bialek's accusations that Cain
groped her in a car after she asked for his help finding a job spun
his unorthodox campaign into an uncertain new territory.
Cain, a novice politician and surprise entrant into the presidential
race, has risen to the top of public opinion polls and emerged as the
main conservative challenger to Mitt Romney. Tea party activists and
conservatives unready to support the former Massachusetts governor
have flocked to Cain's tell-it-like-it-is style and self-styled
outsider image in recent weeks.
There were, however, growing signs of unease in conservative circles
as, one by one, a handful of women claimed Cain acted inappropriately
toward them while the head of the National Restaurant Association in
the 1990s.
"He deserves a fair chance. But that doesn't mean he gets a pass.
These are not anonymous allegations any more, unfortunately," said New
Hampshire conservative activist Jennifer Horn, who last week had
condemned media coverage of the allegations against Cain. "He does
need to take another step and answer a few more questions."
Still, Cain backers remained solidly behind the former chairman of
Godfather's Pizza. They pointed to the presence of Gloria Allred, a
high-profile attorney with Democratic ties, alongside Bialek at a news
conference on Monday in New York as proof that the latest claim was a
partisan smear.
At least two women who worked at the restaurant group under Cain filed
sexual harassment complaints and received payouts to leave the
association.
A third woman told The Associated Press last week that she considered
filing a workplace complaint against Cain over what she deemed
sexually suggestive remarks and gestures that included a private
invitation to his corporate apartment. And a former pollster for the
restaurant association has said he witnessed yet another episode
involving a different woman.
In New York on Monday, Bialek said Cain an acquaintance made a sexual
advance in 1997, when she had traveled to Washington to have dinner
with him in hopes he could help her find work or get her job back at
the National Restaurant Association after she had been fired from a
job in the group's education arm.
None of Cain's other accusers has provided details as graphic as
Bialek's account. But Joel Bennett, an attorney who represents one of
them, said her details were "similar in nature" to what his client
encountered.
In his only public appearance of the day, Cain told Kimmel during the
late-night interview that he got angry and disgusted as he watched
Bialek and Allred. He said his wife didn't watch it but that he called
her immediately afterward.
Minutes after Bialek's news conference, the Cain camp flatly denied
the charges.
"Mr Cain has never harassed anyone," spokesman JD Gordon said in a
statement. Aides insisted that the newest allegation changed nothing
and said Cain would move forward with his plans to attend a private
speech in Phoenix on Tuesday morning and a debate Wednesday night in
Michigan.
Later that night, the campaign announced that Cain would appear at the
Phoenix news conference.
"The questions the media should be asking are: who's paying for Gloria
Allred's fee, how did Ms Bialek get introduced to Ms Allred, and was
she paid to come forward with these false accusations, or was she
promised employment?" the news release said.
Allred has said Bialek approached her and that her client didn't get
compensated for stepping forward.
Bialek stood by her accusation when asked about it Tuesday morning in
the wake of Cain's denial, saying in a televised interview that she
had "nothing to gain" by coming forward. She said: "It's not about me.
I'm not running for president."
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment