And Another Former Staffer Accuses Conyers

Another former staffer accuses Rep. John Conyers of sexual misconduct

Veteran congressman John Conyers is facing a fresh round of sexual misconduct allegations after a former staffer said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her.

Deanna Maher, 77, said she decided to come forward with the allegations after Conyers, the longest-serving member in the House of Representatives, agreed to step down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee amid as Congress looked into separate claims of sexual misconduct against him.

The House Ethics Committee announced earlier this month that it would investigate allegations of sexual harassment and age discrimination against the Michigan Democrat, 88, involving his staff. Conyers, who has denied those allegations, said he would fully cooperate with the investigation.

Maher, who served as Conyers’ deputy chief of staff between 1997 and 2005, said Conyers touched her inappropriately on at least three occasions, including once in 1999 when he allegedly placed his hands underneath her dress.

“There are so many victims that passed through Conyers, and he was so cruel,” Maher told ABC News in a statement. “Everyone knew what was going on but no one did anything.”

“It’s been a long journey and a very painful one,” she added.

Maher said she decided to keep quiet about her experience because she “needed to earn a living.”

“Back when this was happening to me, I had to keep a job,” Maher said. “I was going through a divorce, and I had no money, and I had to have a job, and it’s hard to be employed especially at that time in my life. I was 57 at that time.”

Now, she says she hopes to be a champion for other victims of sexual harassment.

“At that time I could find my way out of circumstances, and he never succeeded with me, never -- I finally gave up and was able to move away. I survived it,” Maher said. “People would ask me how I was years later, and I would say I survived. I’m surviving. That’s the best you can do.”

“I’m doing this for all the other victims. Before I die, I will be happy to think that I did my part in helping all of the other staff members,” she added.

Maher said she was “absolutely amazed” when Conyers agreed to step down from his role as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

His decision to step aside came after BuzzFeed News reported last week that Conyers' office paid a female aide over $27,000 to quietly settle a wrongful dismissal complaint.

ABC News also obtained court filings referencing a federal complaint filed by Conyers’ longtime scheduler, who alleged "sexual advances in the form of inappropriate comments and touches.” The case was later dropped after the judge denied her request to keep the complaint sealed to protect her privacy.

Separately, Melanie Sloan, a lawyer who worked with Conyers on the House Judiciary Committee, accused Conyers of being “increasingly abusive” to her, behavior she says wasn’t “sexual harassment” but “sexual discrimination.”

Conyers has acknowledged that his office settled a harassment complaint involving a former staffer but denies the allegations against him.

Conyers’ attorney, Arnold Reed, said Maher’s allegations were uncorroborated and that his client denies wrongdoing.

“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 said in a statement to The Detroit News, which first reported the story on Monday.

“Any female or male that comes forward and says anybody harasses them, that is serious. Those things are not to be taken lightly. But we have to be able to at least have some corroboration if we’re going to be saying my client did something wrong,” Reed added.

Conyers’ office did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment on these latest allegations.

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Former Conyers Staffers Come To The Defense

Former aides defend Conyers after harassment allegations

Washington (CNN)Twelve former female staffers of Rep. John Conyers say he "never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner" in front of them as the Michigan Democrat faces an ethics investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him.

"While we do not pass judgment on the specific allegations reported in the press or the women who brought them, our experiences with Mr. Conyers were quite different than the image of him being portrayed in the media," the former staffers wrote in a joint statement that circulated on Sunday. "Mr. Conyers was a gentleman and never behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner in our presence. He was respectful, valued our opinions, challenged our thinking, and treated us as professionals."

Conyers, 88, faces a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed or discriminated against members of his staff. Conyers has denied any wrongdoing but has indicated that he will cooperate with the ethics probe.

Earlier Sunday, Conyers said he would step aside as the top Democrat on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, but would fight the allegations.

"I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics," Conyers wrote Sunday in a letter to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

Pelosi said she supported his decision.

"Zero tolerance means consequences," Pelosi said in a statement. "Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously. We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and no matter how great an individual's legacy, it is not a license for harassment."

BuzzFeed News reported last week that Conyers settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 after allegedly sexually harassing a staffer. Court documents also revealed that a second former aide to Conyers accused him of sexual harassment.

New York Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice has called on Conyers to resign his congressional seat over the allegations. Two other House Democrats, Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Raul Grijalva of Arizona, had called on Conyers to step aside from his judiciary post.

I will do a special honor of Raul Grijalva.

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CONYERS Is About To Blow The Whistle

Who said the "allegations at the hightest levels of government" had to be just about sex scandals?

Perhaps it has to do with fraud and public corruption.

Stay tuned.

Is the dam about to burst open? John Conyers' lawyer hints at allegations at the higest levels of government

Are various members of the House and Senate about to be embroiled in sex scandals of their own? According to Arnold E. Reed, an attorney for Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the damn may be about to break when it comes to future allegations.

Daily Caller reports:

The attorney for Democratic Michigan Rep. John Conyers, who is accused of continuously sexually harassing his female staffers, defended Conyers by indicating that there are allegations against "many members" of the House and Senate.

Conyers' attorney, Arnold E. Reed, released a statement defending the Michigan Democrat and pushing back against the "disturbing allegations." The bizarre statement was written in all-CAPS and referred to both Reed and Conyers in the third person.

"Reed acknowledged that while these allegations are serious, they are simply allegations," the statement said. "If people were required to resign over allegations, a lot of people would be out of work in this country including many members of the House, Senate and even the president."

Below is Arnold E. Reed's letter in full.

As one Senate staffer admitted to the Daily Caller, "Things have gotten dark around here," in light of the Franken allegations. "Everyone is walking on eggshells, asking who's next?"

According to Axios reporter Jonathan Swan, claims against the Democrat lawmaker are the "very tip of the congressional iceberg.

"Democratic Sen. Al Franken is the very tip of the congressional iceberg. Many more stories are coming and we wouldn't be surprised if they end several careers. A Republican source told me he's gotten calls from well-known D.C. reporters who are gathering stories about sleazy members," says Swan. 

The "next wave," is coming, Swan adds.

In a new report by CNN, over 50 current and former lawmakers, aides and staff say they have personally experienced sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.

As The Gateway Pundit's Cristina Laila reported, prominent Democrats are calling for Al Franken to resign after model and radio host Leeann Tweeden came forward accusing the Senator of sexual assault.

It was revealed Monday evening that one Congressman who settled a harassment suit in 2015 was Democrat Rep John Conyers. According to affidavits, Conyers used taxpayer money to fly women into D.C. to meet with him in hotel rooms.

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What Do Trump & Conyers Have In Common?

Me eating my popcorn.

I will give you a hint:

Perkins Coie Sucks.

Stay tuned, the show is just about to start.

Dem calls for Conyers to give up top committee post

Another accusation surfaced Tuesday evening.

As first reported by Buzzfeed News, a former staffer sued Conyers in March, alleging sexual harassment in a complaint she withdrew after a federal court refused her request to seal the records to protect the congressman’s public reputation.

The woman alleged repeated and escalating harassment by the 88-year-old after she began working in his office as a scheduler in July 2015, saying she had been given extra responsibilities because of his “age and failing mental capacities.”

By the summer of 2016, Conyers was harassing her daily, she said in the complaint, accusing him of rubbing her shoulders, kissing her forehead and covering or attempting to hold her hand.

The Detroit News is not publishing the woman’s name due to the nature of her claims and decision to withdraw the suit. She did not return voicemails left on the phone number she listed in court records.

Buzzfeed previously published notarized affidavits from three other staffers dated 2014. The affidavits describe Conyers making advances toward female staffers that included requests for sexual favors, caressing their hands in a “sexually suggestive” way, and rubbing their legs and backs in an inappropriate manner while in the office or in public.

Conyers settled a complaint by one of the former staffers in 2015, denying her allegations but paying her through his Member’s Representational Allowance, a taxpayer-funded account that is supposed to be used for office operations.

Conyers put the former staffer back on his payroll in mid-2015, paying her $27,111.74 between June 16 and Sept. 15, according to salary data compiled by the website Legistorm.

Settlements for complaints filed with the Office of Compliance are typically approved by the Committee on House Administration. But former Rep. Candice Miller, a Harrison Township Republican who chaired the committee and now serves as Macomb County public works commissioner, said the Conyers’ settlement “did not come through the normal channels.”

“It never came through our committee,” Miller said. “He did it out of the normal channels. He paid for it through his budget.”

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday he is preparing legislation to unseal congressional settlement records, bar use of taxpayer dollars to pay claims and prohibit members from using office budgets to camouflage payments, calling the latter “a Conyers rule.”

“Members of Congress cannot be allowed to use the American people’s money as a personal slushfund to cover wrongdoing,” DeSantis wrote on Twitter.

The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it will probe allegations that Conyers sexually harassed his employees, discriminated against staffers based on age or used official resources for “impermissible” personal use.

Several Michigan Democrats had called for the House investigation, and Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon called the allegations “incredibly serious and disheartening.”

Conyers confirmed Tuesday that his office reached a financial settlement with a former staffer but denied accusations of sexual misconduct.

“In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so,” Conyers said in a statement.

His office settled the complaint “in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation,” he said, calling the $27,111.74 expense “an amount that equated to a reasonable severance payment.”

Asked about the 2017 lawsuit filed by his former scheduler, a Conyers spokeswoman simply noted the accuser “voluntarily decided to drop the case.”

The withdrawn complaint alleges a long-running series of inappropriate actions by Conyers, including harassment during a car ride to and at a White House event in April 2016. The woman said he urged her to “come home with him” and continued “to touch her against her wishes the entire evening.”

In one instance, the woman said, she was able to use a camera phone on her office desk “to catch some of these events on tape.”

The woman had asked the court to seal her complaint “to protect the reputation of the high profile person” she was suing. She withdrew the suit after Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly refused her request to shield court records from the public.

In her initial complaint, the woman said she had “extreme admiration and respect” for Conyers’ legislative work “as a Civil Rights icon.”

Separate records identify the woman as a possible relative of Cynthia Martin, Conyers’ former chief of staff whose tenure ended in controversy. The News was not able to reach either woman to discuss their connection.

The House Ethics Committee is already investigating whether Conyers authorized Martin to be paid for four months in 2016 — from April 20 to Aug. 25 — when she may not have done any official work.

Martin had pleaded guilty in April 2016 to a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property after initially refusing to return $16,500 mistakenly transferred into her Congressional Federal Credit Union bank account. Martin agreed to pay $13,000 restitution, according to court records.

The withdrawn complaint from Conyers’ former scheduler alleged sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, retaliation and wrongful termination, and reckless infliction of emotional distress.

The woman claimed Conyers’ wife, former Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, called her a “whore” when she was hired and pushed staff to fire the woman after she did not provide a medical certificate when requesting medical leave in July of 2016.

The complaint referred to Monica Conyers as a “known brawler” and said the staffer felt threatened anytime the congresswoman’s wife was in Washington D.C. The woman allegedly told a colleague the situation was a “time bomb waiting to happen.”

Monica Conyers, who spent time in federal prison for bribery, filed for divorce in late 2015. The complaint suggests the congressman’s decision to hire the scheduler was a “partial cause.” John and Monica Conyers later reconciled and remain married.

The woman who filed the complaint said she has known Conyers since 2006. She previously worked in his campaign office, traveled with him to campaign events and worked as a House Judiciary staffer at his “behest” from 1997 to 1998.

She said Conyers did not “make an inappropriate advances or touch” her inappropriately until she worked in his office.

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