Conyers should resign: NY Dem
Rep. Kathleen Rice on Wednesday became the first House Democrat to call on Rep. John Conyers of Michigan to resign following accusations of sexual misconduct and his admission that he quietly settled a complaint with one woman.
“I’ve reviewed the allegations against him and they’re as credible as they are repulsive,” the Nassau County congresswoman said in a statement.
“The women who reported this behavior suffered serious professional repercussions for doing so, which is exactly why so many victims of sexual harassment and assault decide not to step forward.”
The Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into claims that Conyers, 88, quietly settled a wrongful-dismissal complaint in 2015 after he allegedly sexually harassed a staffer, BuzzFeed News reported on Tuesday.
The veteran lawmaker said he’s not going anywhere.
“Congressman Conyers has no plans to resign,” according to statement from his office on Wednesday night.
“He intends to cooperate with the House should they determine further investigation is warranted.”
Earlier in the day, Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks said Conyers — the senior member of the House, with 52 years of service — should step aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
“I think that he needs to step down and a person should be put up on a temporary or acting basis pending the outcome of the Ethics Committee,” Meeks told The Post.
Also on Wednesday, a power- ful Washington, DC, lawyer reportedly said she was regularly berated by Conyers while working for him, and was once summoned to his office — where he was not wearing pants.
Melanie Sloan, a noted government ethics attorney who was on Conyers’ staff in the 1990s, described the disturbing incident.
She walked in and Conyers was in his underwear, according to the lawyer.
“I was pretty taken aback to see my boss half-dressed,” Sloan told The Washington Post. “I turned on my heel and I left.”
Sloan said she took her complaints to House leadership but nothing was done.
“There was nothing I could do to stop it,” Sloan said. “I was dismissed and told I must be mentally unstable.”