Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) on Tuesday became the second Democrat in Congress to call for Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) to resign following multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
“This is a watershed moment where, finally, the country seems to be waking up and realizing we need to have a zero tolerance policy toward sexual harassment,” Jayapal said in a statement. “We cannot pick and choose. Democrats cannot lambaste Trump and Moore, and then turn a blind eye to our own who face credible charges against them.”
She added: “For justice to be done in cases with substantial evidence, a simple denial is not sufficient; the relinquishment of power becomes essential.”
It is not easy for me to reach this conclusion because, as a civil rights activist, I have looked up to Representative Conyers for decades. I believe these women, I see the pattern and there is only one conclusion – Rep. Conyers must resign. pic.twitter.com/5RJUmEuRNf
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) November 28, 2017
BuzzFeed reported last week on former Conyers staffers who alleged he touched them inappropriately and asked them for sexual favors. On Tuesday, the Detroit Free Press reported on another former staffer, Deanne Maher, who made similar allegations of sexual misconduct.
Jayapal joins Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), who called on Conyers to resign last week.
“Enough is enough,” Rice said of her call for Conyers’ resignation. “At this point what I am voicing publicly is what every single private citizen is saying across America: Why are the rules for politicians in Washington different than they are for everyone else?”
Conyers has consistently denied wrongdoing, and many Democratic elected officials have given him the benefit of the doubt, or the benefit of their silence.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said last week that “for all I know, all of this is made up.” And Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), asked about Conyers Sunday, said that he “is an icon in our country. He has done a great deal to protect women.” She has not said that she believes Conyers should resign.
Conyers said Sunday he’ll “step aside” from his position as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee — on which Jayapal also serves — “during the investigation of these matters,” and the House Ethics Committee announced last week that it would be investigating the claims against Conyers, the longest serving current member of Congress.
Just as soon as Donnie resigns…
I believe the women accusing Conyers, just as I believe the women accusing the Groper-in-Chief…
If he chooses to resign, fine. If there’s an investigation, and the House votes to expel him, so be it. Short of that, it’s really up to his constituents, and calling for him to resign strikes me as grandstanding.
"Why are the rules for politicians in Washington different than they are for everyone else?”
I’m not sure. If I was accused by a fellow employee of these things, I’d get due process, not political hysteria and self-serving political grandstanding driven by a near unassailable presumption of guilt accompanied by demands for my summary dismissal and public pillorying.
Conyers is 88 years old!! When did these supposed “sexual harassment” cases occur?
I don’t doubt they “happened” even as the way the woman describe them. And I suppose it’s possible that a man well into his 80s could have a libido capable of this kind of meaningful behavior with sexual intent. But that would be the exception. More likely, Conyers is suffering from frontal lobe issues like impulse control and loss of executive functions. That is, Conyers has diminished capacity to explain his actions, much like former Pres. Bush 43 and the reports of his roving hands. That’s the more common case for men of advanced age. They remember sex, but it’s hard to take such action seriously.
So I suspect many people think he should retire due to his diminished capacity, not because it has caused him to act inappropriately to women, but because that diminished capacity prevents him from assessing inappropriate behavior (or perhaps even remembering). But he’s been such an icon that nobody wants to push him out for that to maintain his dignity.
But the notion that Conyers’ actions in his 80s is equivalent to run of the mill intentional sexual harassment is nonsense.
Conyers already paid his price, by the rules set up by Congress and per those prior rules, there was a gag order on talking about it. Agree or disagree on the gag rule is a separate issue, but Conyers paid his price and that was agreed to by all parties involved. We don’t get to re-try him, nor do we get to do it under rules now for something that happened in the past and was already dealth with. If there are current and uninvestigated accusations against him then they should be investigated before any calls to resign are made.