Second former staffer accuses Conyers of sexual harassment

A former deputy chief of staff for Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan has accused the Detroit Democrat of unwanted sexual advances.

Deanna Maher said the congressman harassed and touched her on three occasions while she ran the congressman’s Michigan office between 1997 and 2005, the Detroit News reported.

“I didn’t report the harassment because it was clear nobody wanted to take it seriously,” Maher told the paper. “John Conyers Jr. is a powerful man in Washington, and nobody wanted to cross him.”

Maher is the second former staffer to level sexual misconduct claims against Conyers.

Last week, BuzzFeed reported on a 2015 settlement for $27,000 between Conyers and a former staffer over harassment claims. The Washington Post followed up with a complaint of harassment and verbal abuse by Conyers toward a Washington lawyer specialized in ethics who worked for the congressman in the 1990s.

Conyers has denied any wrongdoing.

The allegations have sparked a House ethics investigation, and the 88-year-old has given up his top spot as the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee.

On Monday night, Conyers’ attorney Arnold Reed disputed the allegations from Maher. “At the end of the day, he’s confident that he will be exonerated because he maintains that he has not done anything wrong,” Reed told the Detroit News.

“At best, (the allegations) are uncorroborated,” Reed said. “At worst, they’re just not believable.”

But Joel Thurtell, a former reporter with the Detroit Free Press, said he had discussed the harassment with Maher at the time of the incidents. “She told me about the sexual harassment claims, but at the time she didn’t feel confident she wouldn’t be ... retaliated against.”