Conyers again accused of sexual misconduct
A former staffer to Rep. John Conyers says he touched her inappropriately twice in the late 1990s.
WASHINGTON — A former staffer to Rep. John Conyers says he made an unwanted sexual advance toward her and touched her inappropriately twice in the late 1990s, the Detroit News reported Tuesday, in the latest sexual misconduct allegations against the veteran lawmaker.
Deanna Maher, 77, who ran a Michigan office for Conyers from 1997 to 2005, told the newspaper that there were three instances of inappropriate conduct.
Maher said the first instance of harassment happened shortly after Conyers hired her in 1997, during an event with the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington.
“I didn’t have a room and he had me put in his hotel suite,” said Maher, adding that she rejected his offer to share his room at the Grand Hyatt and have sex.
The other incidents involved unwanted touching in a car in 1998 and unwanted touching of her legs under her dress in 1999, she said.
The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations against Conyers, 88, who has denied the accusations and refused to resign. Conyers, the longest serving member of the House, announced Sunday that he would step aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
Separately, the House’s top Democrat said in a letter to the ethics panel that it should move quickly in its inquiry.
“We are at a watershed moment for our country in the fight against sexual harassment and discrimination,” wrote Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, DCalif. “The Committee on Ethics has a great responsibility to proceed expeditiously as well as fairly into any investigation of credible harassment and discrimination allegations.”
Maher said she didn’t report the harassment because Conyers is a powerful man in Washington and she didn’t think it would be taken seriously. Last week BuzzFeed News reported that Conyers had settled a complaint in 2015 from a staffer who alleged she was fired because she rejected his advances. BuzzFeed reported that Conyers’ office paid the woman over $27,000 to settle the complaint under a confidentiality agreement.