Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has no plans to resign right now and will fight the numerous allegations of sexual misconduct he faces, the congressman’s attorney told the Washington Post.
“The congressman is a very deliberate person and doesn’t want to make a hasty decision,” attorney Arnold Reed told the Washington Post on Wednesday. “These allegations are untrue, and Mr. Conyers wants the public to know they are untrue. We will weigh and continue to assess his options.”
Over the past two weeks, allegations of sexual misconduct from several former staffers to Conyers have come to light. BuzzFeed News first reported last week that Conyers’ settled a complaint from a former staffer who alleged she was fired for refusing the congressman’s sexual advances. Since then, several more women have come forward with stories of inappropriate touching and unwanted sexual advances from Conyers.
A few of Conyers’ colleagues in Congress have publicly called for him to resign, and the congressman has reportedly faced pressure in private to step down, but most Democratic members who have spoken publicly on the topic have said that Conyers must make the decision himself.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has reportedly urged Conyers to resign from Congress behind closed doors, but she and other Democratic leaders in the House have declined to publicly call for Conyers to step down.
“Calling for the resignation of someone does not actually create the resignation,” Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), the House Democratic Caucus chairman, told CNN on Wednesday. “So, the reality is we have a process in place and we are calling for an expedited process with the Ethics committee.”
Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which Conyers helped found, have also reportedly urged Conyers in private to leave Congress. However, CBC Chair Cedric Richmond (D-LA) has stated publicly that the caucus will leave the decision up to Conyers.
Though Conyers has so far resisted pressure to resign, he did step down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. Two sources close to Conyers told Detroit television station WDIV that the congressman has decided against running for re-election in 2018. However, Reed denied to the Washington Post that Conyers has decided not to run again.
I think the only reason he isn’t resigning is because he knows/feels that this is only the beginning of what will be a consistent pattern of the GOP leaking the names of Dems who have taken advantage of the House slush fund to pay off harassment claims. They won’t be leaking their own, of course. And if they see that Dems roll over and quickly resign, they will become more aggressive with this strategy.
That being said, Conyers won’t survive this. The pressure is mounting and will soon become unbearable.
What about family values and shill for the oil company’s Joe Barton, the Texas representative that downloaded pics of his little teeniw- weenie on Twitter? Haven’t heard a peep out of him or the repubs about his actions!
Breaking News!
http://juanitajean.com/oh-no-smokey-joe-2/
I saw an interview with Conyers attorney on MSNBC yesterday, and when pressed about releasing the alleged victim from the NDA that was signed as part of the settlement,
his answer was aggressive, bordering on mocking, about not releasing the alleged victim from the NDA.
Either release that person from the NDA and let’s get all the info out there and listen to both sides and let people decide for themselves.
Or resign now.
This is a lose-lose situation for Democrats. I know this is an unpopular opinion on the boards here, but Conyers is 88 years old and has no business still being in Congress. A very sad end to what would have been an illustrious career, and a complete and total distraction from all of the crucial things that are happening in the country right now.
Rumor has it that he will decline to run for re-election in January, rather than resigning before next November.
It may work for him, and it may not.
Depends on how heavy the pressure is.