Conyers resigns, says legacy secure
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Conyers Jr., who faces allegations that he sexually harassed former employees, announced Tuesday that he will leave Congress immediately, and he endorsed his son, 27-year-old John Conyers III, to replace him.
Conyers, 88, the longestserving current member of the House and the longestserving African-American in history, called into a local radio show Tuesday to announce, “I am retiring today.”
Speaking from a hospital in Michigan, Conyers continued to deny that he had harassed any of his former employees.
“My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we are going through now,” Conyers said. “This, too, shall pass. My legacy will continue through my children.”
The decision sets up a battle within the Conyers family for his Detroit-area House seat. Ian Conyers, 29, a Michigan state senator and the grandson of Conyers’ brother, said he also plans to run for the seat held by his great-uncle.
The congressman, who took his Michigan seat in the House in 1965, has already stepped aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee amid swirling allegations of sexual improprieties. He has been facing intense pressure to resign.
Conyers, however, remained protective of his time in Congress. “I am very proud of the fact that I am the dean of the Congress,” he said. He appreciated “the incredible, undiminished support” that he had received from his state and the country, he said.
He also did not waver from his stance that he did nothing wrong and called the accusations against him false. “Whatever they are, they are not accurate,” he said. “I cannot explain where they came from.”
Conyers went on to say the allegations were just part of life as a lawmaker. “This goes with the issue of politics, the game of politics which we are in,” he said.
Conyers is currently hospitalized for what his attorney has described as a stressrelated illness. His family has not provided further details.
Conyers, a founding member in 1971 of the Congressional Black Caucus, easily won re-election last year to his 27th term in his heavily Democratic district in and around Detroit.
It will be up to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to set a date for a special election to pick someone to serve out the remaining year in
Conyers’ two-year term.
On Monday, yet another allegation was lodged against Conyers, when a woman who said she worked for him for more than a decade, Elisa Grubbs, said he slid his hand up her skirt and rubbed her thighs while she was sitting next to him in the front row of a church.
Grubbs also said she repeatedly saw Conyers touching and stroking the legs and buttocks of other female staffers. Such behavior “was a regular part of life while working in the office of Rep. Conyers,” she said.
Grubbs is the cousin of another accuser, Marion Brown, who reached a confidential, taxpayer-funded settlement of more than $27,000 over allegations Conyers sexually harassed her. That settlement came
to light in mid-November, setting off the cascade of allegations against the congressman.
At least two other women who worked for him have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Conyers said in a statement read Tuesday on the floor of the House that he was resigning “to preserve my legacy and good name.”
He also complained that he was not being afforded due process to defend himself, and cited his health problems as another factor in his decision. He added that he hopes his retirement will be viewed in the “larger perspective” of his more than 50 years as a lawmaker.