Report: CBC “In Talks” With Conyers, Want Him To Resign
“Pelosi is not leading the effort but is tacitly supporting it”
With today’s revelation of yet another Representative John Conyers’ (D-MI) staffer alleging sexual harassment, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is reportedly in talks with Conyers about his resigning from Congress. Of note, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is quietly supporting the move.
Several Congressional Black Caucus members are in talks to get veteran Rep. John Conyers to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct, several Democratic sources told CNN on Tuesday.
Those members are trying to ease his exit without trampling on his legacy during his 50-plus years in the House. Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, is the longest currently serving member of the House of Representatives.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is not leading the effort but is tacitly supporting it, according to Democratic sources.
A staffer to a member of the Congressional Black Caucus told CNN that “there is a feeling among some of our members that we need to protect his legacy,” noting that Conyers is a founding member of the group and was a leading figure in the civil rights movement.
The concern for “protecting his legacy” by Democrat leaders is not a key issue amongst younger Democrats.
The New York Times notes that there is a generational divide among Democrats regarding the proper way to handle Conyers’ alleged sexual misconduct.
Sexual assault, harassment and other vulgarities have rocked Hollywood, scarred Silicon Valley and darkened media offices from New York to Washington. But the sexual harassment scandal surrounding Mr. Conyers, the longest serving member of the House, has highlighted schisms that are as much about generations as they are about gender.
Especially among Democrats, Mr. Conyers’s troubles have generated friction between the party’s aging leadership and rank-and-file, and underscored the difficulty that newer members of the House have in rising up in a system where leadership positions, including committee chairmanships, are determined almost solely by seniority.
The three top Democrats in the House — Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina — are all in their late 70s. Mr. Conyers has been the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee — either as chairman or ranking member — for 10 years.
And for many of them, the response to the Conyers imbroglio has been telling. Mr. Conyers has denied all the charges, but under pressure, did relinquish his post. Mr. Clyburn suggested that for all he knew, “all of this could be made up.”
Ms. Pelosi, the minority leader, swiftly called for an ethics investigation last week after news broke that two aides had accused Mr. Conyers of sexual harassment, and that he had paid a settlement to one. By Tuesday afternoon, she was working quietly behind the scenes with Congressional Black Caucus members who were trying to persuade Mr. Conyers to resign, according to a senior Democratic aide. His lawyer said he had no immediate plans to do so.
But her path to that point has been meandering. Ms. Pelosi offered an awkward defense of Mr. Conyers on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, saying, “Just because someone is accused — and was it one accusation? Is it two? I think there has to be — John Conyers is an icon in our country.” That earned her scathing reviews.
Melanie Sloan, a respected ethics lawyer in Washington who worked for Mr. Conyers in the mid-1990s, was so incensed by the performance that she called Ms. Pelosi’s staff and reminded them that Mr. Conyers had verbally abused her and had once summoned her to his office while he was wearing his underwear. That prompted Ms. Pelosi to switch course again.
“I find the behavior Ms. Sloan described unacceptable and disappointing,” she said in a statement. “I believe what Ms. Sloan has told me.”
Pelosi’s waffling, however, is not sitting well with rank-and-file Democrat House members who want Conyers to resign immediately. The NYT observes that “Younger Democrats have been far less equivocal than their leaders. Representatives Kathleen Rice of New York and Pramila Jayapal of Washington say Mr. Conyers should resign.”
It is not easy for me to reach this conclusion because, as a civil rights activist, I have looked up to Representative Conyers for decades. I believe these women, I see the pattern and there is only one conclusion – Rep. Conyers must resign. pic.twitter.com/5RJUmEuRNf
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) November 28, 2017
The writing is on the wall, and Conyers is not going to be able to stay in the House. He will have to resign, and both the “old” and “new” Democrats will take credit for his ouster . . . setting the stage for still more Democrat division and more attention centered on Senator Al Franken (D-MN) who is fighting for his political life with surprisingly little help from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
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Comments
Conyers has a lot in common with Mugabe. Both finally got so old that they no longer had the strength or the sense to understand why their own side was kicking them out.
But. . . but. . . but he’s an ICON. A LIBERAL icon. Liberal icons can do whatever they want. By the way, isn’t this guy’s wife in prison for corruption and theft? Hello, Detroit.
EX-wife and she is out.
She married John Conyers on June 4, 1990 (she was 25, he was 61)
She was part of the Kwame Kilpatrick mess in Detroit.
Not sure if there is a connection but should look in to the Flint water crisis too since Detroit was not paying their fair share for water so Flint prices were increased.
From 2012-2013:
Monica Conyers served just over 27 months of her 37-month sentence, at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia for her conviction in the bribery scandal.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/04/prosecutors_monica_conyers_mus.html
But it would be rich if Conyers decided to take a few others with him.
It is not easy for me to reach this conclusion because, as a civil rights activist, I have looked up to Representative Conyers for decades.
It must be rather disorienting to finally realize that for all those years when she thought she was looking up, she was really looking down.
Now of course this is all utter BS—not just a show, but a stall.
They don’t need any “ethics investigation” to know what’s going on. We do, but they don’t. This is a guy they’ve all worked with day-in, day-out for years. Their staffers go to lunch in the same bistros, get their BMWs serviced at the same dealerships, buy cocaine from the same dealers. If there are congresscritters who are notorious for grabbing every ass in arm’s reach, they’ll all know it. And the drivers, security guards, Secret Service people will all know it because they’ve seen it, and just because they don’t talk to the press about it, we can’t conclude that they don’t talk about it at all.
They all know what Conyers has been up to, and have known it for years. What they don’t know is what to do about it. The big question is, will the usual Washington response—ponderous inaction—suffice yet again, or do they really have to move this time? Why now? What’s changed? Pelosi, Schumer, Conyers—they haven’t changed. Neither have the Republicans. For that matter, neither has the Press. Everyone is in the business of protecting Liberal “icons”. So what’s the new factor, the person they can’t count on to “go along to get along”? Who might blow anything all to hell at any moment with a tweetstorm?
Hmmm. I wonder.
“This is a guy they’ve all worked with day-in, day-out for years.”
This. Exactly this. The conduct by the actors (whether it be a politico-perv, a Hollywood perv, or a media perv)is gross, but the hypocrisy of the people surrounding them is nauseating.
sound the ‘Trump’et and heed the clarion call.
I love this line:
Melanie Sloan, a respected ethics lawyer
Ha, trash attacking trash. This is good. I think the key here is
The concern for “protecting his legacy” by Democrat leaders is not a key issue amongst younger Democrats.
The New York Times notes that there is a generational divide among Democrats regarding the proper way to handle Conyers’ alleged sexual misconduct.
The new Democrats are taking over. If he slips out, his district might be saved, but they need to be careful about it or they will loss that 80% election rate.
I don’t think Conyer’s district will turn conservative. Maybe Redder`but not conservative.
A respectable conservative from the community could win it. Problem is there is so much graft.
Don’t forget that his now former wife, Monica, served Federal time for corruption while she was serving as President of the City Council in Detroit. BTW – just noticed there is a 36 year difference in their ages, he’s 88, she’s 52. They married when he was 61 and she was 25. (And the Dems condemn Judge Moore).
She liked to throw the race card.
First let me say I love Detroit! The grit, the charm, the perseverance! Beautiful place with magnificent people. However, can we be honest and ask, “what has John Conyers done for Detroit since ’65?”
Conyers didn’t bring about the resurrection of mid-town; Roger Penske, Rock Financial did that! Conyers didn’t rejuvenate the stadium district; the Illich Family (Little Caesar’s) did that (Fox, Tiger Stadium and Little Caesar’s Arena) along with the Ford Family (Ford Field)!
Conyers was the guy that didn’t mow the grass on his Indian Village Home until the news stations showed the complaints! Conyers was the guy who let his adult son trade off daddies position for years! Conyers was the guy who watched his wife go down for a 3,000 bribe when she was on city council! Conyers was the guy who came home every election cycle and scared voters with a litany of, “if you don’t elect me, who will protect you” stories! Can we stop with the whole “Icon”, bs! Yeah, he’s an “icon”, he’s bamboozled, hoodwinked, led astray voters since before I was born and he’s had a pretty good life because of it!
Still that’s the SE Michigan way. Us “Mitteners” like keeping our “icons” around, I guess. How else do you explain not only Conyers but our Dingell Family Dynasty? Imagine John Sr. served from ’33 -’55, upon his death John Jr. slid into the chair from ’55 – ’15 and once he retired his wife, Debbie cozied up to the mantle from ’15 – current! There all “Icons” and as voters we have what for those decades of service? A VA Hospital with John’s name, a few bridges with John’s name and stories of how they were “for us”! But. . . .the city and region went into decline and has begun improving greatly in spite of them not because.
It’s tiring and revolting. Go away “Icon” and pay somebody to cut your damn lawn!
Actually, glad the icon was around and did nothing. Guys like Carl Levin were out right dangerous.
I would wish the area would go move conservative since the Detroit area (including Ann Arbor) messes up the rest of the state. Not sure how Debbie Stabenow got to be Senator.
Coyners and Dingellberry are union plants.
Do a search on Youtube and you will get a load of them about how bad Detroit has gotten.
In 1950 Detroit had over 1 M, they are down to almost half that.
Here is a nice Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MZ8o9MaIjA
I met Mayor Dennis Archer and his heart was into reviving Detroit. Considering that he picked up after the corrupt Coleman Young rein, my hat went off to Archer. Why they elected corrupt Kwame Kilpatrick is beyond me and it slide back to it old ways.
Some of the old building like the old GM building use to be beautiful inside. The Renaissance Center is a horrible building, if you ever have been in it.
Sadly, Detroit’s steep decent happened after the 67 riots. Probably most of the people that actually could help the black communities in Detroit instead moved to the burbs to get away from the problems.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. All the Democrats are pretty much in the 12 (Mrs. Dingellberry), 13 (Conyer) and 14 District. Sander Levin is a hack that is in there too.
It has been a great pop corn show for me this week. I heard that Garrison Keillor in now on the list of abusers. I don’t want to cheer about it, but I hate A Prairie Home Companion. Just another rich liberal love feast.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/29/567241644/garrison-keillor-accused-of-inappropriate-behavior-minnesota-public-radio-says
All I have to say is, “Pass the popcorn!”