U. S. Rep. John Conyers will retire at the end of his term rather than seek re-election, according to his great-nephew
Embattled U. S. Rep. John Conyers will retire at the end of his term rather than seek re-election, according to his great-nephew, state Sen. Ian Conyers, who plans to run for the seat in 2018.
The younger Conyers discussed plans Tuesday morning with the New York Times and ABC News, explaining his grandfather’s brother will not immediately step down amid sexual harassment allegations by former staffers.
“He is not resigning. He is going to retire,” Ian Conyers told The Times. “His doctor advised him that the rigor of another campaign would be too much for him just in terms of his health.”
But Conyers’ lawyer, Arnold Reed, said he would not respond to “rumor and innuendo.”
“The congressman will make his decision this morning consistent with my previous statements,” Reed tweeted Tuesday. “I have not spoken to Ian Conyers, and no one is aware of the congressman’s plans except he and I and his wife.”
Rep. Conyers, 88, is set to discuss his own political future Tuesday during an interview at 10:15 a.m. on The Mildred Gaddis Show, 102.7 FM.
The Detroit Democrat and longest-serving active member of Congress was hospitalized last week due to “tremendous stress.” He has denied sexual harassment allegations and his attorney has questioned multiple accusers.
Ian Conyers, 29, has represented parts of Detroit in the state Senate for a little over a year. He told The Times he “stands with his uncle” but thinks the accusations deserve their day in court.
“I’m absolutely going to file for his seat,” said Ian Conyers, who did not immediately return calls from The Detroit News seeking to confirm his plans.
“The work of our congressional district, where I come out of, has to continue,” he said. “We have got to have someone who has depth and experience but also historical understanding of what it takes to fight this type of evil in Washington.”
Conyers previously relinquished his high-profile position as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee pending the outcome of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
Conyers has repeatedly denied claims he mistreated staffers, but calls for his departure intensified last week as two accusers went public detailing his alleged misconduct.
The Detroit News first reported last week that former staffer Deanna Maher said Conyers sexually harassed her, including inappropriate touching, in three incidents spanning 1997 to 1999.
Another Conyers staffer, Marion Brown, broke a confidentiality agreement to go on NBC’s “Today Show” on Thursday to describe what led her to file a complaint against her boss in 2014 alleging she was fired for refusing his sexual advances.
Another former staffer filed a lawsuit in federal court this year alleging sexual harassment by Conyers but later withdrew the complaint to protect the congressman’s reputation.
Elisa Grubbs, who said she worked for Conyers from 2001-13, claims she also witnessed him touching and stroking the legs and buttocks of Marion Brown, Grubbs’ cousin, and other female employees of the congressman on “multiple occasions.”
Attorney Melanie Sloan, whom Conyers hired in 1995 as counsel to the Judiciary Committee, has said the congressman did not sexually harass her but acted inappropriately and abusively.
Supporters held a rally in Detroit on Monday to call for Conyers to receive “due process” and for critics to stop pressuring him to step down.
The leaders of both parties in the House and four members of the Michigan delegation, among others, have urged Conyers to depart.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Conyers should go, with Pelosi calling the women’s claims “very credible.”
“The allegations against Congressman Conyers, as we have learned more since Sunday, are serious, disappointing and very credible. It’s very sad,” Pelosi said Thursday. “Congressman Conyers should resign.”
Ryan referred to the “torrent” of allegations against Conyers and to Brown’s appearance on the “Today Show.”
“No one should have to go through something like that, let alone here in Congress. Yes, I think he should resign. I think he should resign immediately,” the Wisconsin Republican said.
Republican U. S. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Zeeland and Democratic Reps. Dan Kildee of Flint Township, Debbie Dingell of Dearborn and Sandy Levin of Royal Oak have also urged the veteran lawmaker to step down. The highest-ranked African-American in the House, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, also called on Conyers to resign.
Launching its inquiry last month, the ethics panel said it was aware of allegations that Conyers might have sexually harassed employees, discriminated against staffers based on age or used official resources for “impermissible” personal use.
The committee has agreed to call Brown to testify, her attorney Lisa Bloom said, but she has asked that the panel open the hearing to the public – something the committee doesn’t typically do.
Bloom indicated Monday that she had not yet received a subpoena, which she was expecting to accept by email on behalf of Brown.
The accusations against Conyers first surfaced the Monday before Thanksgiving with news that Conyers settled the complaint with Brown in 2015.
He paid Brown roughly $27,000 through his congressional office budget but, as part of the settlement, denied her allegations.
Brown told NBC that Conyers “touched me in different ways” over the years she worked for him and had “violated my body.” In one instance, Conyers invited Brown to a hotel room in Chicago under the guise of discussing business but was in his underwear when she arrived.
“He asked me to satisfy him sexually,” Brown said. “He pointed to areas of, genital areas of his body and asked me to, you know, touch it.”
Brown’s case has prompted more members of Congress to call for ending “secret settlements” using taxpayer dollars and reform the chamber’s onerous process for filing workplace complaints against members or staffers.
The House Administration Committee is holding a hearing Thursday on the sexual harassment policies on Capitol Hill.
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