Former volunteer said he put her hand on his genitals while driving.
WASHINGTON – For the second time in two days, a new accuser stepped forward late Tuesday to accuse U. S. Rep. John Conyers of sexually harassing her.
Attorney Lisa Bloom — who is representing a former employee of the congressman, Marion Brown, who says Conyers made sexual advances toward her while she worked for him — posted the new accusations on Twitter, just hours after Conyers announced his retirement after nearly 53 years in Congress.
In the new accusation, Delores Lyons alleged that sometime in 2011 or 2012 she was driving Conyers when he grabbed her hand off the steering wheel and placed it on his genitals.
She said, „I immediately yanked my hand away from Rep. Conyers‘ hand as I was horrified. A short while later, Rep. Conyers did it again and I yelled at him to, ‚Stop that! Go back to sleep!‘ (As) I pulled my hand away, Rep. Conyers giggled in response.“
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Lyons, who the statement said volunteered for the congressman between 2010 and 2014, is among at least six women to publicly accuse Conyers of misbehavior, including Brown. On Monday night, Bloom posted another account for a former worker, Elisa Grubbs, who said Conyers put his hand under her skirt while in church, among other improper acts.
At least two women also signed confidential affidavits in support of a complaint filed by Brown in 2014, which were reported on two weeks ago by the website BuzzFeed. It wasn’t immediately known whether Lyons and Grubbs were the same two or in addition to those others.
Lyons also said that Conyers on other occasions rubbed her hips or buttocks, including one time when she was with her son at an event and another when she was standing at a buffet table. At the latter, she said, she told him, „You’re going to get knocked out!“
„This seemed to be a game to Rep. Conyers as he thought he could cop a feel wherever and whenever he wanted and no one would ever do anything about it,“ wrote Lyons.
Conyers and his attorney, Arnold Reed of Southfield, have steadfastly denied all the accusations, saying the congressman harassed no one. He has characterized a settlement of more than $27,000 paid out to Brown in 2015 as a severance package, noting that the settlement document expressly denied any of her claims.
Lyons said Brown told her about Conyers‘ advances and that she witnessed Grubbs jump at the church when Conyers‘ allegedly touched her.
Conyers had been facing an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, but that is almost certainly over now, since the committee’s jurisdiction is only over active members of the U. S. House.
Bloom, in a statement, said Conyers left Congress „to avoid the upcoming Ethics Committee investigation into the multiple claims of sexual harassment and retaliation against him that we’ve been pushing for.“
„Ironically, he claimed he could not get ‚due process,‘ but my client Marion Brown and the other accusers wanted the opportunity to testify before the committee and tell their stories, and Mr. Conyers could have also testified and called witnesses on his behalf,“ Bloom said. „That’s what due process is. Yet he resigned to kill that hearing.
„He knew we had multiple additional accusers and witnesses coming forward and that we wanted that hearing. We are very disappointed that it is now canceled.“
Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.
