Rep. John Conyers (R-MI)
He switched party?
I’m no friend of sexual harassers–fighting discrimination is what I do in my professional life. But I’d need to know more about the facts here before I said that he should resign. There is a vast difference between what Roy Moore is accused of (credibly) and what Al Franken is said to have done while that photo was being taken. So what is Conyers said to have done? The public needs to know.
(And I’m pretty confident I would say the same thing about a Republican congressman.)
Some people still haven’t accepted that sexual harassment is bi-partisan. Or non-partisan. Or non-political.
“Without a doubt, Congress has a real problem, and one that the American people deserve to see resolved.”
Not so sure this problem is limited to politicians.
Sad to say, as I think John Conyers is one of the most principled and incorruptible Congressmen alive, but I agree with the Freep on this.
“It’s a tragic end to his public career. But it’s the appropriate consequence for the stunning subterfuge his office has indulged here, and a needed warning to other members of Congress that this can never be tolerated.”
Wha? This is the kind of language you’d use for a “sexual assault charge” NOT a “misconduct complaint.” I can only hope that the Detroit Free Press has few subscribers to read this hyperbole.
I have a problem that Conyers settled and ethics problem he had with his top staffer paying the person with basically a severance to leave. It was done to avoid going thru an ethics investigation. How many other congress members have done the same thing. Democrats complaining about Trump ethics needs to show they can do better and demand better. Trump is the most unethical POTUS in history.
Dude is 88 years old! Time to be put out to pasture!!!
BuzzFeed was first to report Tuesday that Conyers paid a $27,000 settlement to a former staffer after she complained to the compliance office that she was fired because she resisted Conyers’ sexual advances.
Sexual harassment, perhaps, but as I understand it, it was not physical.
And what does that have to do with bad copy editing?
Is the DFP editorial board partisan, or do they know something we don’t?
Conyers is not my Representative, but is in an adjacent district to me. Sadly, I find these accusations completely believable. I expect this was behavior that was more permissible 50 years ago, but thankfully no longer is. Conyers was and is a giant, but it’s time for him to move into his well deserved retirement. From a political standpoint, that district has a PVI score of D+32 and Conyers can probably name his successor, if he transitions himself out. Maybe he can become twitter buddies with John Dingell…
The Free Press is the more liberal of the two Detroit papers. The Daily News is the other.
That’s what I remembered from 30 years ago, wasn’t sure if it was still true.
And not especially pertinent, but interesting…
John Conyers’ wife, Monica, is something of a local disgrace. She was born 8 months after her husband first went to Congress and she just recently got out from serving a 37 month prison term for receiving a bribe while a member of the Detroit city council. John Dingell’s wife Debbie was his successor in Congress, but I think the chances that Conyers’ wife succeeds him are pretty close to zero.
If that’s all it was.
Yes, not pertinent at all. Unless you’re saying that his advances to his staff member were while his wife was behind bars. And even then, not relevant.
Hey, the next thing you know, he might try to sue the women accusing him. I mean, what kind of asshole would ever do that?
Oh, wait…
Well, his wife did file for divorce in 2015, and based on the timing of when the settlement was, I wonder if there was any relation to the settlement. They have since reconciled.
ETA: and I mainly was commenting because I found it interesting. There’s a reasonably common trend of wives succeeding their husbands in Congress upon their death or retirement. Off the top of my head, I can think of Congresswoman Bono from California, Congresswoman Nikki Tsongas from Massachusetts and Congresswoman Dingell from Michigan. If Conyers had any interest of remaining in Congress to allow time for his very politically active wife to be his successor, it’s probably not happening.