DETROIT (AP) - In a story Nov. 29 about sexual harassment claims against U.S. Rep. John Conyers, The Associated Press misspelled the name of a congressman who suggested Conyers should resign. He is U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, not Blumenhauer.
A corrected version of the story is below:
The Latest: Attorney: John Conyers has no plans to resign
An attorney for U.S. Rep. John Conyers says the lawmaker has no plans to resign amid sexual harassment allegations
DETROIT (AP) - The Latest on allegations of sexual misconduct against Rep. John Conyers (all times local):
4:25 p.m.
An attorney for U.S. Rep. John Conyers says the lawmaker has no plans to resign amid sexual harassment allegations.
Detroit-area lawyer Arnold Reed told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the 88-year-old Democrat is going to fight claims that he inappropriately touched several women when they worked on his staff.
Reed says anyone making such claims should be prepared to back them up.
Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that Conyers had settled a complaint in 2015 from a woman on his staff who alleged she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances. Another ex-staffer said Tuesday that in 1997 Conyers undressed to his underwear in front of her and twice touched her leg inappropriately.
Conyers told Reed that fears for his family over media coverage prompted his return to Detroit late Tuesday from Washington. Reed says the congressman will return to Washington when he feels it’s safe to go back.
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1:55 p.m.
A third House Democrat has suggested that Rep. John Conyers should resign, following allegations of sexual harassment by at least three staff members.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Wednesday that while it is ultimately up to Conyers whether he decides to step down, he told C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, “I would think he should.”
Earlier this week, two other lawmakers, Reps. Kathleen Rice and Pramila Jayapal, said they think Conyers should resign. Rice told reporters that she left a Democratic Caucus meeting early on Wednesday out of frustration that party leadership wasn’t taking the issue seriously enough.
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12:15 p.m.
One of only two Democrats who have called for Congressman John Conyers to resign amid sexual harassment allegations has walked out of a Democratic Caucus meeting, saying the issue isn’t being taken seriously.
Rep. Kathleen Rice said Wednesday that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke only “very briefly” about sexual harassment and focused mostly on efforts by female members to combat it.
Rice says she will not “stand silent, even in the face of pressure from leadership.”
Caucus chairman Rep. Joseph Crowley said at a news conference after the meeting that Caucus members “believe these are very, very, very serious allegations.”
But, he says, calling “for a resignation does not actually create the resignation” and that an ethics committee review could “bring this to the forefront.”
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10:40 a.m.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers’s wife says that the person making sexual harassment allegations against her husband should be named publicly.
Conyers is being pressured by some in Washington to resign.
Buzzfeed News reported last week that he settled a complaint in 2015 with a woman who alleged she was fired from his staff because she rejected his advances. The website says Conyers’ office paid the woman over $27,000 in a confidential settlement.
That woman’s name hasn’t been revealed.
Monica Conyers told reporters outside the couple’s Detroit home Wednesday that the media must “disclose who this person is.”
A former scheduler filed a complaint this year, but later dropped it. The Associated Press hasn’t released her name. And a third ex-staffer, Deanna Maher, said Tuesday that in 1997 Conyers undressed to his underwear in front of her and twice touched her leg inappropriately.
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7:55 a.m.
The son of Democratic Michigan Congressman John Conyers says it’s disconcerting to see how his father is being treated in the wake of allegations that the longest-serving member of the House made unwanted sexual advances.
John Conyers III spoke to reporters early Wednesday outside his family’s Detroit home, saying it’s “very unfortunate to see him fight so long for so many people and to automatically have the allegations assumed to be true.”
Conyers’ son noted, however, that “with sexual assault, women are to be believed.”
Former staffer Deanna Maher said Tuesday that Conyers partially undressed in front of her in a hotel room and touched her inappropriately.
Conyers missed two roll call votes in the House late Tuesday and was photographed by a passenger boarding a flight to Detroit from Washington.
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1:35 a.m.
Pressure is growing from fellow Democrats for Michigan Rep. John Conyers to resign from the House after more allegations of sexual misconduct.
A senior House aide says members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with Conyers Tuesday and explained to a founding member of their group why he should resign.
The aide says House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also is pressuring the 88-year-old Conyers behind the scenes to quit. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Conyers missed two House roll call votes late Tuesday and was photographed by a passenger boarding a flight to Detroit from Washington.
The pressure on Conyers came after Deanna Maher, who ran a Michigan office for Conyers from 1997 to 2005, accused him of several incidents of sexual misconduct.
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Associated Press reporter Alan Fram in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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