In this
April 4, 2017, photo, Rep. John
Conyers, D-Mich., speaks during a
hearing of the House Judiciary
subcommittee on Capitol Hill in
Washington. Buzzfeed, a news
website, is reporting that Conyers
settled a complaint in 2015 from a
woman who alleged she was fired from
his Washington staff because she
rejected his sexual advances. Calls
to Conyers and his office seeking
comment were not immediately
returned Monday, Nov. 20. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
Conyers
confirms
harassment
settlement;
ethics
probe
opens By
COREY
WILLIAMS
Today
DETROIT
- John
Conyers
has
dealt
with
various
ethics
investigations
and a
public
corruption
case
that
landed
his wife
in
prison
during a
U.S.
House
career
spanning
more
than
five
decades
— longer
than any
other
current
member.
Allegations
that the
88-year-old
Michigan
Democrat
sexually
harassed
female
staff
members
may be
the
toughest
opponent
yet for
the
party’s
top
member
on the
House
Judiciary
Committee.
“He’s
not as
sharp as
he used
to be,”
said
Adolph
Mongo, a
longtime
follower
of
Detroit
politics
who has
worked
on
mayoral
campaigns.
“This is
a young
person’s
game
now. You
hate to
see
somebody
who has
put in
50 years
... go
out like
this.”
Leaders
of the
House
Ethics
Committee
announced
Tuesday
that the
panel
had
begun an
investigation
into
Conyers
after
receiving
allegations
of
sexual
harassment
and age
discrimination
involving
staff
members
as well
as using
“official
resources
for
impermissible
personal
purposes.”
Conyers
said he
would
fully
cooperate.
News
website
BuzzFeed
reported
Monday
night
that
Conyers’
office
paid a
woman
more
than
$27,000
under a
confidentiality
agreement
to
settle a
complaint
in 2015
that she
was
fired
from his
Washington
staff
because
she
rejected
his
sexual
advances.
Two
businessmen
from
Detroit
are
expressing
their
appreciation
for the
work
longtime
Michigan
Rep.
John
Conyers
has done
in
Washington,
despite
a report
that the
88-year-old
legislator
engaged
in
sexual
misconduct
while in
office.
(Nov.
21)
BuzzFeed
also
published
affidavits
from
former
staff
members
who said
they had
witnessed
Conyers
touching
female
staffers
inappropriately
—
rubbing
their
legs and
backs —
or
requesting
sexual
favors.
One
former
staffer
said one
of her
duties
was “to
keep a
list of
women
that I
assumed
he was
having
affairs
with and
call
them at
his
request
and, if
necessary,
have
them
flown in
using
Congressional
resources.”
When
questioned
at his
home
Tuesday
morning
by The
Associated
Press,
Conyers
denied
settling
any
harassment
complaint
and
other
allegations
of
inappropriate
touching
of
staffers.
The
reporter
repeated
to
Conyers
the
claims
made in
the
BuzzFeed
report.
Conyers’
office
said in
a
statement
that he
was
under
the
impression
the AP
reporter
was
speaking
of
“recent
allegations
of which
he was
unaware
of and
denied.”
“In
this
case, I
expressly
and
vehemently
denied
the
allegations
made
against
me, and
continue
to do
so,”
Conyers
said
later
Tuesday
in his
statement
about
the
settlement.
“My
office
resolved
the
allegations
— with
an
express
denial
of
liability
— in
order to
save all
involved
from the
rigors
of
protracted
litigation.”
Court
documents
show
that
another
ex-staffer
attempted
to file
a
federal
lawsuit
in
Washington
alleging
sexual
harassment,
retaliation
and a
hostile
work
environment.
The
woman
claimed
in the
proposed
filing
from
February
that
Conyers
began
making
sexual
advances
and
inappropriate
comments
shortly
after
she was
hired in
2015.
She also
said
Conyers
blew
kisses
when
“others’
backs
were
turned”
and
would
“rub her
shoulders,
kiss her
forehead
and
attempt
to hold
her
hand.”
The
woman
wanted
to file
a
lawsuit
under
seal to
avoid
embarrassing
Conyers,
but a
judge
denied
the
request.
No
further
action
has been
taken
since
March.
Conyers’
office
said in
an email
Tuesday
night to
the AP
that
“the
former
staffer
voluntarily
decided
to drop
the
case.” A
message
left
Tuesday
evening
at the
number
listed
for the
woman
wasn’t
immediately
returned.
Since
Conyers
arrived
in
Congress
in 1965,
he has
easily
won
re-election
bids,
usually
with
more
than 80
percent
of the
vote.
In
2006,
the
House
Ethics
Committee
closed
an
investigation
after
three
former
aides
said
Conyers
used
them as
baby
sitters
and
personal
servants
while
they
were
supposed
to be
working
in his
Michigan
offices.
The
aides
also
said
Conyers
had them
pay
restaurant
and
motel
bills.
Conyers
agreed
to
clarify
work
rules
with his
staff to
ensure
his
office
was in
compliance
with
ethics
regulations.
He
emerged
unscathed
after
his
wife,
Monica
Conyers,
pleaded
guilty
in 2009
to
conspiracy
to
commit
bribery
as a
member
of the
Detroit
City
Council.
She
admitted
to
taking
bribes
in
exchange
for her
vote on
a $47
million
sludge
hauling
contract.
She
entered
prison
in 2010
and was
released
to a
Detroit
halfway
house in
January
2012.
In
August,
the
ethics
committee
said it
was
extending
an
investigation
into
John
Conyers
over
payments
to his
former
chief of
staff. A
report
submitted
by the
independent
Office
of
Congressional
Ethics
said
there
was
substantial
reason
to
believe
that
Conyers
paid his
former
chief of
staff
for work
she did
not
perform.
Joe
Lanier,
owner of
hair
stylist
shop
Terry’s
Place in
Detroit,
said he
hates to
hear
about
the
allegations
against
Conyers
“because
he’s
been a
force in
the
community
for
many,
many
years.”
The
government
has paid
more
than $17
million
in
taxpayer
money
over the
last 20
years to
resolve
claims
of
sexual
harassment,
overtime
pay
disputes
and
other
workplace
violations
filed by
employees
of
Congress.
The
Office
of
Compliance
released
the
numbers
amid a
wave of
revelations
of
sexual
misconduct
in the
worlds
of
entertainment,
business
and
politics
that
made its
way to
Capitol
Hill
last
week.
Two
female
lawmakers
described
incidents
of
sexual
harassment,
one in
explicit
detail,
and
Minnesota
Sen. Al
Franken
apologized
to a
woman
who said
he
forcibly
kissed
her and
groped
her
during a
2006 USO
tour.
Conyers
has
earned
the
benefit
of the
doubt,
said the
Rev.
Horace
Sheffield,
who lost
to him
in the
2014
Democratic
primary.
“I
don’t
condone
the
conduct
if it’s
true,”
Sheffield
said,
also
noting
the
increasing
numbers
of
claims
of
harassment,
sexual
misconduct
and even
rape
being
made
against
politicians,
Hollywood
elites
and
others.
“We’re
at a
point,
too,
where we
have to
look at
the
nature
of these
allegations,”
said
Sheffield,
pastor
of New
Destiny
church
in
Detroit.
“Some
stuff
may be
considered
flirtations
as
opposed
to
things
that are
predatory.”
If
Conyers
makes it
through
the
current
scandal,
he
likely
will
retain
his seat
in
Congress
if he
seeks
re-election
again,
Sheffield
added.
“I
think
Conyers
will be
there
until
the day
he
dies,”
Sheffield
said.
“The
voters
have
proven
that.”
__
AP
reporters
Juliet
Linderman
in
Washington
and Mike
Householder
in
Detroit
contributed
to this
report.