Ginger White, the Atlanta businesswoman who is claiming that she had a 13-year affair with Herman Cain, has given details of the alleged relationship to the local Fox station in Atlanta.
White told the station that Cain would fly her out to cities where he was speaking, and that they would then stay nice hotels. She claims that their physical relationship ended about eight months ago, right before Cain launched his presidential campaign.
One juicy detail is what she said he signed on her copy of his recent book: “Friends are forever! Everything else is a bonus.”
White said she came forward because she was worried about potential media coverage about herself — and because of Cain’s attacks on the other women who have accused him of sexual harassment. “It bothered me that they were being demonized, sort of, they were treated as if they were automatically lying, and the burden of proof was on them,” White said. “I felt bad for them.”
White also showed the station evidence of some kind of contact with Cain — cell phone records, with Cain himself responding when the station tried the number:
She showed us some of her cell phone bills that included 61 phone calls or text messages to or from a number starting with 678. She says it is Herman Cain’s private cell phone. The calls were made during four different months– calls or texts made as early as 4:26 in the early morning, and as late as 7:52 at night. The latest were in September of this year.
“We’ve never worked together,” said White. “And I can’t imagine someone phoning or texting me for the last two and a half years, just because.”
We texted the number and Herman Cain called us back. He told us he “knew Ginger White” but said these are “more false allegations.” He said she had his number because he was “trying to help her financially.”
On the other hand, the station found that White’s own legal history shows her to not be an unimpeachable source:
We also found a lawsuit filed by a former business partner, Kimberly Vay, who once sought a “stalking temporary protective order” against Ms. White for “repeated e-mails/texts threatening lawsuit and defamation of character.” The case was dismissed; but was followed by a libel lawsuit against Ms. White. A judge entered an order in favor of Kimberly Vay because Ms. White failed to respond to the lawsuit.
When asked why, under those circumstances, her claims against Cain should be believed, White said, “Because I admit it. Whatever happened with Kim happened. Just as there would make no sense for me to come out with these allegations against Herman if it absolutely wasn’t true.”
Her attorney, Ed Buckley, says she didn’t answer the lawsuit because she didn’t know about it, and she thought her business dispute had been settled with negotiations.
Cain offered pushback in an interview with CNN even before the allegations had fully surfaced. Here’s a video of highlights:
