Cain scandal deepens as 3rd woman comes forward

Published : Nov 3, 2011 - 10:31 Updated : Nov 3, 2011 - 11:31

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The sexual harassment scandal surrounding Herman Cain, a leading Republican presidential candidate, deepened Wednesday as another woman accused him of inappropriate behavior when he headed a restaurant industry lobbying group in the 1990s.

The woman's account, told to The Associated Press, came as Cain tried unsuccessfully to divert attention from the controversy, responding testily to reporters who had pressed him about the original accusations.

The scandal has jolted the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, in which Cain, a former pizza chain executive and political novice, has upended the establishment by climbing to the top of opinion polls.

Cain appeals to some conservatives because he is a political outsider at a time of anti-Washington sentiment that leaves President Barack Obama vulnerable in 2012. So far Cain's backers are sticking with their man.

But the allegations could threaten his standing near the front of the Republican field, which is just two months away from thinning out after early January contests in the traditional leadoff states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The woman who came forward Wednesday said he made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures about the same time that two co-workers at the National Restaurant Association had settled separate harassment complaints against Cain.

She described in conversations with the AP over several days situations in which she said Cain told her that he had confided to colleagues how attractive she was and invited her to his corporate apartment outside work.

She said she did not file a formal complaint against Cain because she began having fewer interactions with him and because her co-workers had already come forward.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks after meeting with doctors attending the Docs4PatientCare conference in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. (AP)

The woman spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying she feared losing her current job and the possibility of damage to her reputation. The AP confirmed that she worked at the restaurant association with Cain during the period in question, that she has no party affiliation in her voter registration in the past decade and is not identified as a donor in federal campaigns or local political campaigns. Records show she was registered as a Democrat at one point previously.

Cain's campaign denied anew that he'd done anything wrong, decried a ``smear campaign'' as he is riding high in opinion polls and accused rival Rick Perry's operation of being behind the original stories.

Perry's campaign denied any involvement _ and suggested the campaign of yet another candidate, Mitt Romney, might be a source.

The candidates are scrambling to win endorsements from lawmakers who are influential in their home districts. Romney leads with 33 current members of Congress. Perry, the Texas governor who declared his candidacy only two months ago, has chalked up at least 14, according to both campaigns.

Cain has only a fledgling campaign presence after his meteoric rise in the polls in recent weeks, but was in Washington on Wednesday working to build a following. Other candidates with backgrounds as lawmakers themselves have tiny corps of supporters.

In Washington, Cain dodged reporters' questions Wednesday as he tried unsuccessfully to divert attention from the scandal. He got testy with reporters and continued to denied any wrongdoing after reports surfaced that he faced sexual harassment accusation from two women when he was the head of the National Restaurant Association.

Confronted by reporters after he left a speech to health care professionals in Virginia, Cain told them ``don't even bother'' asking about the scandal.

When pressed about the allegations, Cain raised his voice and said ``What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me!'' as hotel security led him through a hotel hallway jammed with journalists.

The two women whose cases were first reported are barred from publicly giving their accounts by confidentiality agreements they signed in exchange for financial settlements from the trade group. On Wednesday, Cain was under pressure to ask the group to release the women from those agreements.

Cain also got in trouble this week after a television interview in which he said China is trying to develop a nuclear capability. China detonated its first nuclear device in 1964. Rival candidate Jon Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to China, responded that candidates' ignorance about security and trade with the Asian power could be damaging to the United States.

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美대선후보, 성희롱 의혹 파문 곤혹

미국 공화당 흑인 대선주자인 허먼 케인 전 `갓파더스 피자' 최고경영자(CEO)의 과거 성희롱 의혹을 둘러싼 파문이 좀처럼 가라 앉지 않고 있다.

지난달 30일 정치전문매체 폴리티코의 관련 보도 이후 케인이 잇단 언론인터뷰 등을 통해 진화에 총력을 기울이고 있지만 사태는 오히려 더 확산되는 분위기다.

특히 당시 성희롱을 당했다고 주장하는 여성 2명 가운데 1명이 공개 증언을 요구하고 있는 것으로 알려져 최근 각종 여론조사에서 선두를 달리고 있는 케인이 자칫 `치명타'를 입을 수도 있다는 전망이 나오고 있다.

2일 워싱턴포스트(WP)에 따르면 이 여성를 변호하고 있는 조엘 베네트 변호사는전 미요식업협회(NRA)에서 케인의 부하 직원으로 일했던 피해자가 당시 체결한 `비공개 계약' 때문에 증언을 하지 못하고 있다면서 협회측에 이 계약을 무효화할 것을 요구했다.

베네트 변호사는 "케인이 두 여성의 주장에 대해 악담을 퍼붓고 다니는 동안 피해자는 비밀준수 계약 때문에 말을 못한다는 것은 말이 안된다"고 주장했다.

그는 피해 여성이 자신의 주장을 공개적으로 밝히기를 간절히 바라고 있다고 강조했으나 이 여성의 지인은 "피해자는 자신의 이름이 공개되는 것에 대해 걱정하고 있다"고 전했다.

이와 관련, 케인은 지난 1일 폭스뉴스에 출연한 자리에서 `이 계약을 무효화해야 한다고 생각하느냐'는 질문에 직접적인 답변을 피한 채 "변호사와 법적인 사항에 대해 논의하고 있다"고만 밝혔다.

또 NRA는 베네트 변호사로부터 아직 이에 대한 공식 요청을 받지 못했다면서 "적절하게 대응할 것"이라는 원론적인 응답을 내놨다.

이런 가운데 뉴욕타임스(NYT)가 또다른 여성이 사건 당시 케인의 성희롱을 문제삼지 않는 조건으로 1년치 봉급인 3만5천달러를 받은 것으로 알려졌다고 보도하면서 상황은 더 복잡하게 꼬이는 모습이다.

또 지지자들 사이에서는 케인이 CEO 시절 평직원들에 대해서도 허물없이 지내는등 서민적인 면모를 보였다는 `옹호론'도 부상하고 있다고 WP는 전했다.

특히 공화당의 다른 대선주자들도 예상 외로 케인의 악재를 적극적으로 활용하지는 않는 분위기라고 폴리티코가 이날 전했다.