Twelve women who used to work for Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) on Sunday said the congressman “never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner” toward them, though several ex-staffers have accused Conyers of sexual harassment and misconduct.
“Our experiences with Mr. Conyers were quite different than the image of him being portrayed in the media. Mr. Conyers was a gentleman and never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner in our presence,” the staffers said in a statement.
The staffers said they “do not pass judgment on the specific allegations reported in the press or the women who brought them.” They also “support allowing the ethics investigation” the House committee has opened into the allegations “to run its course.”
Several former staffers last week accused Conyers of asking them for sexual favors and inappropriately touching them. Conyers has denied the accusations, but on Sunday said he will “step aside” as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee while the House’s ethics panel investigates the allegations against him.
Read the staffers’ signed statement:
We are women whose combined tenures span over thirty years working with Congressman Conyers in Washington, D.C. in a variety of capacities, including legal, communications, and executive support positions. We do not condone or justify sexual harassment and believe the ongoing national debate is important. While we do not pass judgment on the specific allegations reported in the press or the women who brought them, our experiences with Mr. Conyers were quite different than the image of him being portrayed in the media. Mr. Conyers was a gentleman and never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner in our presence. He was respectful, valued our opinions, challenged our thinking, and treated us as professionals. Under his leadership, we worked in an environment dedicated to the advancement of human and civil rights, including women’s rights, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, and the intellectual property rights of creators. We believe in due process and support allowing the ethics investigation to run its course.
Carol Chodroff
Carolyn Donnelly
Lillian German
Martina A. Hone
Stephanie Y. Moore
Stephanie J. Peters
Rinia L. Shelby
Christal Sheppard
B. Nicole Triplett
Teresa Vest
LaShawn Warren
Kristin Wells
This is irrelevant to the allegations.
I am sure that Trump could easily line-up a dozen women to say the same thing.
They all signed NDAs.
I’m on the fence about statements like these. Does it really matter that he didn’t behave inappropriately to you? He did it to someone else. On the other hand, I understand wanting to stand behind someone who you feel is being falsely accused.
You don’t actually know he did it to someone else. A woman said he did and she got a settlement that was significantly less than the nuisance value of the case. That’s all we know. So yeah, in that context, statements like this are at least somewhat probative.
When there are a lot of woman saying the same thing happened to them, statements like this are inconsequential. When there’s just the one, they are at least marginally probative.
And, of course, when you’re like Roger Ailes and the number who say you didn’t harass them are massively outnumbered by the ones who say you did, it tends to prove the opposite of their assertion.
It’s quite possibly that the bottomfeeders have decided to ‘use’ the Me, Too movement to bring down prominent Dems to shove their sht through the legislatures. Sad really what freakin’ scumsuckers they are pretending to be ‘patriots’. I’m looking at you Cotton and every single one of you (Flynn) that trade on your military service to FK the country.