We were already told that one accuser received $35,000, and now Politico reports that the other accuser was given $45,000. James Pethokoukis puts the numbers into present context: “Assuming Politico is correct, total Cain alleged harassment settlement payments = $113,000, adjusted for inflation.”
Is this a major settlement? A small one? We’ll have to wait for experts to weigh in, but clearly it goes well beyond the “two months…maybe three months’ salary” that Cain described during his Greta Van Susteren interview earlier this week.
Meanwhile, new information about what may have sparked the sexual harassment allegations is coming to light – this time from a conservative news outlet, Pajamas Media. PJM’s Richard Pollack reports:
One source, a male, told PJ Media:
Herman took advantage of seniority and power with a young woman. It was an abuse of power.
According to the female source, Mr. Cain and the woman had been with a large group for a long evening of food and drink at the Ciao Baby Cucina, a restaurant near NRA headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. This was a normal routine, as the trade association worked with the food and beverage industry. Afterwards, Mr. Cain allegedly took the woman by taxi to his apartment, where she spent the night and woke up. …
Neither source has direct knowledge of what occurred at Mr. Cain’s residence, but several days after the alleged incident, the female source witnessed the woman returning to her workplace “distraught.” “She was very upset.”
This sounds more alarming than a case of misinterpreted remark or unwanted compliment, which is how the Cain campaign has been trying to spin the charges. The woman was reportedly in her early 20s, while Cain would have been in his 50s at the time and was president of the organization she worked for.
It should be stipulated that not only is the allegation unproven but also these sources are anonymous and neither had direct knowledge of whether Cain took the woman to his apartment or what happened there.
But if the incident went down the way the source describes, Cain can say goodbye to his political career. This sounds like a clear abuse of power, not to mention a damning indictment of his character.
PJ put this correction almost immediately after the story went up:r nr n(CORRECTIONS: A previous version of this story mentioned that a source witnessed Cain and the woman entering a taxi together. This was incorrect.r nr nThe previous version also mentioned that the woman awoke in Cainu2019s bed u2014 the source only claimed that the woman awoke in Cainu2019s apartment.r nr nThe previous version incorrectly attributed comments from one source to the other source.)r nr nIn other words, there is no source, anonymous or otherwise that corroborates that Cain went anywhere with here. Kind of an important correction in light of the story, no? r nr nStill gossip and innuendo, still only Cain reputation on the line. Still presumed guilty. If this turns out to be true, then yes Cain is finished – but do you know what? If it turns out that Romney date raped a 20 year old, he would be finished too. That is what is being implied – without a shred of evidence or anyone willing to go on record. I don’t care if you like Cain or not – this is shameful!!! And Commentary is coming off very opportunistically.
PJ issued a correction! n(CORRECTIONS: A previous version of this story mentioned that a source witnessed Cain and the woman entering a taxi together. This was incorrect. n nThe previous version also mentioned that the woman awoke in Cain’s bed — the source only claimed that the woman awoke in Cain’s apartment. n nThe previous version incorrectly attributed comments from one source to the other source.) n nIn other words, innuendo and gossip. It is being implied that Cain went way beyond sexual harassment without evidence or anyone willing to go on record – or as it turns out, any witnesses as to whether he even left the restaurant with her.
SilentCalvin–according to her reported narrative (an important qualification) she was taken to and woke in his apartment. n nA self-reported eye witness source says that she saw them breaking away from the social group at the get together. n nYes, she could have lied to associates about where they ended up and lied that "he had taken advantage of me"—still, unless all of this is a plot involving her and/or the sources she was distraught afterwards, confabbed with human resources, her parents hired legal counsel and a financial settlement was arranged. n nEven though we are still talking about arms-length hearsay, something may have happened here untowards.
Who gives a dam, except for Cain's opponents? Commentary should be ashamed for propagating this garbage. I, frankly, am not a supporter of Cain. But this trash is not the reason. I support redoing the miserable tax code, although not Cain's way. This kind of political garbage will do this country in. Maybe it is already done in. Foreign policy. Domestic policy – without religious issues which really stinks up the GOP race. Economic policy. Discuss these. Is the GOP in reality rooting for Obama? It's beginning to appear that way.
True, Cain could be opposed for promoting 9-9-9 as a one-size-fits-all solution to all of America's fiscal and economic problems and his thin exposure to foreign affairs–though if you like your tax policy sunny side radical, he's the guy. But who gives a darn? hmmmm. It depends on how you feel about being lied to and about what. When Cain first said this was all anonymous unknown weird charges over the transom this week he knew he had discussed them, minimally, according to hm, with Curt Anderson in 2003/4 Senate cycle. Commentary's history is not GOP per se but ex-Democrat neo-con conservative; by those yardsticks Cain is not an ideal candidate out of the gate with his cultural, domestic, and personal agendas.
"But if the incident went down the way the source describes, Cain can say goodbye to his political career. This sounds like a clear abuse of power, not to mention a damning indictment of his character." n nWhy should it? n nLet's say everything that was quoted here from the article is true. Here is one blind guess, since we are all blindly guessing without facts to work with, I want you to imagine: n nA group of co-workers out for a late night of eating and drinking. One young, 20-something female worker has way too much to drink. Other co-workers think it might not be a good idea to let her try to navigate her way home late at night in downtown Washington DC. A senior member of the party in a position of authority feels responsible for doing something about this and takes her to his place. He puts her on the couch or in the guest bedroom. Turns out the light. And goes to his own bed. The next morning, the embarrassed, perhaps confused young woman wakes up and things start running through her head…. n nHow far fetched is that? Before you answer, think back in your own lives — not in the "how things should happen" world we invent for talking about public figures like politicians and movie stars and media figures… n nWhat I mean is, of course looking at it from above, it is a no-brainer that a person in a high ranking position or a boss should EVER bring a subordinate of the opposite sex into their home in the above situation. n nBut, down at street level, if it were you, and you knew all the people involved well through being in close proximity in the work place, and you felt like you were truly helping the helpless drunk young woman out, and your brain didn't automatically think about future implications due to the nature of our liability-and-litigation obsessed culture, how close would you come to making the same mistake? n nWas the woman drunk? I don't know. "a long evening of food and drink" gives me just as much room to speculate as others have who have jumped to the conclusion that even if what we know so far is true, it must be the end of Cain's political career. n nLook, I work in a profession where a male always has to be worried about perception and potential landmines. I'm a high school teacher. You know you should never be alone with a female student even in your classroom. You make up excuses to leave if a student stops by – especially if the student has a habit of doing that. You move the conversation out into the hallway if the student stops by. You ask another teacher over if you can't take care of the students question or issue in the hallway. The chance of innocently being alone in the room with a student coming back to cost you your career, reputation, and perhaps even freedom is small, but the stakes are too high to allow even that small a chance. n nBut, how many people work in a profession like that? Where your attention is always on the potential for gossip or false accusations leading to widespread disgrace in your community, loss of your livelihood, and potential prosecution?
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