Cain Acknowledges Harassment Claims but Denounces Them

Herman Cain acknowledged today that he was accused of sexual harassment more than a decade ago but insisted that the claims were “baseless.”

Speaking on Fox News, the Republican presidential candidate said he was unaware that payments had been made to two women who claimed that he had harassed them when he headed the National Restaurant Association.

And Cain told Fox’s Jenna Lee that there are no more skeletons in his closet. “If more allegations come, I assure you, people will simply make them up,” he said. “The only other allegations will be trumped-up allegations. There’s nothing else."

Cain, who is running neck and neck with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, was speaking for the first time about allegations that surfaced during the weekend and threatened to derail his campaign.

Politico reported on Sunday that two employees claimed that sexually suggestive behavior by Cain had made them “angry and uncomfortable.” The two employees reportedly signed agreements giving them financial payouts, and they left the association. Cain was president and CEO of the association from late 1996 to 1999.

The website said that it had tried to get comment from Cain’s campaign for 10 days without success and eventually confronted the candidate on the street outside CBS News’ Washington bureau after he had appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning.

Cain evaded questions before turning it on reporter Jonathan Martin, asking, “Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?”

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Cain-ha ... ode=D601-1

More attacks on Cain? Why, I can't believe the mainstream media would stoop to attacking someone on the right. What is this world coming to if you can't trust the media? Shucks, gee willickers, and all that.

So Nmysys, do you want the media to just ignore the accusations?

Archer, I would like to see the media be fair...ain't gonna happen..

But I just posted this in another thread. It actually proves he lied about 5 hours ago. Here is what I wrote.

OK, sorry but Cain flat out lied! First he said he had no memory of anything that happened. Then he said he couldn't defend against an anonymus person as he had no idea who it was or the incident. Now he remembers her approximate age, her height, the formal allegation, what she looked like and that she was a writer and EXACTLY what happened and when! Which is it? He sure remembered an awful lot in just a few hours. And he flat out said he had NO IDEA if there was a pay off or how much. Now he remembers he was told about a payoff and that it was 2 or 3 months salary. He is sounding like a total politician now! I wonder how much more is going to come out now?

Nmysys wrote: More attacks on Cain? Why, I can't believe the mainstream media would stoop to attacking someone on the right. What is this world coming to if you can't trust the media? Shucks, gee willickers, and all that.

So let me ask you, had Perry or Romney or Obama been accused of something like this then went on the news and denied it, then said he had no recoleciton of it and then 5 hours later came out and knew all the details of the lady the incident and the pay off, would you say anything?

Those that want a "fair" media have no problem believing the story when it's slanted their way. Fox is a perfect example.

This started with Politico.com. Hardly the "media." They dug it up on their own. I also think they are pretty fair. (the way to tell if the story is "fair" is that it shouldn't draw a conclusion. That should left to the reader.)

This will probably sell a few more books...

So let me ask you, had Perry or Romney or Obama been accused of something like this then went on the news and denied it, then said he had no recollection( corrected your spelling ) of it and then 5 hours later came out and knew all the details of the lady the incident and the pay off, would you say anything?

Of course I would say something Viking. It seems that you are following every word about Cain pretty closely. What has ticked you off so much about him, in particular? Politics are politics. I don't think it is possible to find anyone who is so squeaky clean that there isn't something that can be picked on or pointed out. With 500 negative things against him, Obummer got elected. I'm interested in things that really stick out as a red flag, not some sexual harassment claim that went nowhere. If we have to wait for someone with absolutely no skeletons of any kind in his or her closet, we won't have a country left to worry about.

The sexual harassment claim hardly "went nowhere."

Herman Cain confirmed Monday evening that he is aware of a payment made to a woman who claims he sexually harassed her while he was CEO of the National Restaurant Association, after denying any knowledge of the case earlier in the day.

“My general counsel said this started out where she and her lawyer were demanding a huge financial settlement…I don’t remember a number,” he said in an interview with Greta van Susteren, according to a transcript published by Byron York.

“…But then he said because there was no basis for this, we ended up settling for what would have been a termination settlement.” When van Susteren asked how much money was involved, Cain said: “Maybe three months’ salary. I don’t remember. It might have been two months. I do remember my general counsel saying we didn’t pay all of the money they demanded.”

Earlier in the day, Cain had told reporters he was unaware of any deal: “If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn’t even aware of it and I hope it wasn’t for much. If there was a settlement, it was handled by some of the other officers at the restaurant association.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67233.html

So there are two layers: the sexual harassment settlement and the fact he first lied about not knowing the details of the case.