Two women accused Herman Cain of inappropriate behavior

Politico ^

[Sub-Driver]

Exclusive: Two women accused Cain of inappropriate behavior By: Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman and Anna Palmer and Kenneth P. Vogel October 30, 2011 08:00 PM EDT

During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO.

The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures.

In a series of comments over the past 10 days, Cain and his campaign repeatedly declined to respond directly about whether he ever faced allegations of sexual harassment at the restaurant association. They have also declined to address questions about specific reporting confirming that there were financial settlements in two cases in which women leveled complaints.

POLITICO has confirmed the identities of the two female restaurant association employees who complained about Cain but, for privacy concerns, is not publishing their names.

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon told POLITICO the candidate indicated to campaign officials that he was “vaguely familiar” with the charges and that the restaurant association’s general counsel had resolved the matter.

[Ted Grant]

It is certainly very possible. Romney has a very polished style but as you note, he is a brutal political combatant. The guy that Cain threatens the most is Romney, since he shot to 1st place and has remained there for a few weeks now.

[BagCamAddict]

I haven’t had time to research much tonight, but the article I read said that Cain’s counsel told him about the settlement. I didn’t see the interview live, so I don’t know if he meant that his current counsel told him the information this afternoon, or if he meant he knew it all along.

In things like this, I have found that often reading it in the written word it comes across much different than the speaker meant it in real life, due to the inability of the written word to capture inflection and so forth. Also, an article can pick and choose which words to print, and which not to print. So I would want to see the interview before I know whether he was saying he found about (from counsel) later today about the settlement.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Well, seek out the video and evaluate the comments for yourself. This isn’t the final word on the matter. So this is one story that will certainly dominate the week’s news, and possibly beyond. I do think Cain and his people mishandled this issue. They knew about this since October 20 when Political contacted them. They had 10 days to prepare a response. And if somehow they didn’t see it coming, what’s wrong with them?

[MNJohnnie]

Take a look around Hildy, the Rovebot smear directed at Cain blew up in the Establishement’s face.

[cincinnati65]

If there were any "meat" to these allegations, the MSM would have saved it to destroy Cain in the General Election. As usual, the strategy seems to be to discredit the Conservatives so we end up with a "Radical Liberal" vs. "RINO" general election, as opposed to a "Liberal" vs. "Conservative" one.

Let's see: Bachmann's a looney Evangelical Christian; Perry's a drunk/stoned/incoherent public speaker; Paul's totally unelectable; and now Cain's a sexual predator. Gee, I guess I'm stuck with Mitt, huh?

Psst, we're smarter than that.