During a brief exchange in Washington, D.C. Thursday, U.S. Rep. Steve Kinggave his opinion of news that GOP presidential candidate Herman Cainwas previously accused of sexual harassment. The Kiron Republican also said news outlets were wrong to report the story, which Politico broke, indicating that unless there were several women willing to come forward with full details, the story should have never been given any ink.
Allegations were made by two women and stem back to the the time when Cain was served as head of the National Restaurant Association. Settlements were made by the Association, which included a gag order on the women. Although an attorney for at least one of the women has asked the group to lift her gag so that she can more freely speak about the incident and directly address Cain’s claims that the complaint was “baseless,” legally she is currently prevented from speaking.
The Associated Press has also interviewed a third woman, also a previous employee with the National Restaurant Association, who is claiming that Cain acted inappropriately. Finally, Iowa conservative talk show host Steve Deace has confirmedthat behavior by Cain made a female employee at the radio station uncomfortable. Cain’s campaign continues to maintain its candidate’s innocence and has referred to continued questions about the previous incidents as an ongoing “smear campaign” launched by the national media.