WASHINGTON – New York Rep. Kathleen Rice called for the woman who received a $27,000 sexual harassment settlement from Rep. John Conyers to be relieved from her gag order and free to tell her story.
The Long Island Democrat sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan Wednesday asking for Conyers’ accuser to be allowed to talk about her case against the Detroit Democrat. The former staffer who said she was fired for rejecting Conyers’ sexual advances signed a confidentiality agreement as part of the 2015 taxpayer-funded settlement.
In an interview with The Post, Rice said she wants Congress to “make sure that the victim in the case is given the same opportunity to talk about what happened to her that her harasser is.
“I just think that it is insane that John Conyers, in this instance, can say whatever he wants about this woman and her lips are sealed because of non-disclosure agreement she had to sign if she wanted the settlement to go through. That’s absurd.”
Conyers, 88, has denied sexually harassing anyone but acknowledged he paid the settlement to avoid public litigation. He’s home in Detroit and missed a vote in the House Wednesday to mandate sexual harassment training for all members of congress and their staff.
Ryan’s office said they are reviewing sexual harassment settlements and the House Administration Committee will hold a hearing on the process Dec. 7. But a rep for Ryan said it seems unlikely he would have the power to undue a legal non-disclosure agreement.
Outside Conyers home in Detroit Wednesday, wife Monica Conyers urged reporters to camp out in front of his office instead and suggested the attention on her family was racially motivated.
Conyers, a former city councilwoman who served time in prison in a public corruption case, said she wonders if reporters would “go and stalk white people’s houses.”
“Do you just come to the black neighborhoods and stalk our houses?” Conyers, 52, said, according to WDIV-TV.
Conyers son, John Conyers III, raised concerns about the differing treatment of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who apologized for sexual misconduct, and his father, who has denied the allegations.
“If we’re not going to make Al Franken resign when we have evidence of him groping a woman while she was asleep … it’s disconcerting to me to see the way my father is being treated after he’s given so much to this country, not just for black people but for people alike,” the younger Conyers said. “He fights for everyone.”
Lisa Bloom, an attorney for Conyers’ accuser, thanked Rice for standing with the victim and said “basic fairness and decency” should allow the woman to respond publicly.
Rice has already called for Conyers to resign and has expressed frustration with fellow lawmakers for not taking these cases of sexual misconduct more seriously. She left the Democratic caucus meeting after 45 minutes Wednesday morning after she said sexual harassment wasn’t the No. 1 issue.
“I just don’t have time to be part of a meeting where we are not going to address the big elephant in the room,” Rice said.
Three separate Democratic sources said sexual harassment was addressed in detail and brought up by several members.
“It was discussed throughout,” Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) told the Post.
Meanwhile, the Congressional Black Caucus met separately Wednesday afternoon where they affired two principles: “zero tolerance” for sexual harassment and “due process” for Conyers as the Ethics Committee investigates, Lawrence said.
“We’re giving him that time to meet with his family and make the decisions he needs to make,” she said.
Conyers’ attorney said the Dean of the House is going no where.
“He’s not going to be forced out of office, and no one has told him he has to leave,” attorney Arnold Reed told The Detroit News.