Appearing before a consumer group in Virginia Wednesday morning, Cain accused his critics of engaging in the politics of personal destruction, and he insisted his candidacy would survive the maelstrom. "There is a force at work here that is much greater than those that would try to destroy me and destroy this campaign," the former Godfather's Pizza CEO said. "That force is called the voice of the people. That's why we are doing as well as we are." Cain referenced a new Quinnipiac University national poll showing him leading the GOP field with 30% support among registered Republicans, compared to 23% for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
The survey, however, was conducted almost entirely before news of the allegations came out. Cain: 'Factions trying to destroy me' Attorney for Cain accuser speaks out Politico: Cain validates our facts Debate over Cain's media response Later, a visibly irritated Cain refused to discuss the issue with reporters, telling them "don't even even bother asking ... all of these other questions that you all are curious about." The sexual harassment story first broke Sunday evening, when a Politico report alleged that two female employees at the National Restaurant Association accused Cain of inappropriate behavior during his tenure as head of the organization in the late 1990s.
The women, according to Politico, received two separation packages in the five-figure range. One of the packages totaled $35,000 -- equivalent to that staffer's annual salary, according to the New York Times. On Monday, Cain forcefully denied all of the charges and said he was "not aware of any (legal) settlement." Later, Cain changed his tune, saying he did in fact know about a "separation agreement" in one of the cases.
On Tuesday, the candidate told HLN's Robin Meade that the agreement provided one of his accusers "in the vicinity of three to six months' severance pay." The payment was "not outside our guidelines for what most people get ... when they leave the Restaurant Association involuntarily," he claimed. While the Cain campaign had first been approached by Politico ten days before the story was first published, the candidate himself said he was only remembering many details of the incident on Monday. "In 12 years, a lot of stuff can go through your head," he said. Cain continued to vehemently deny the allegations, telling HLN: "I have never committed sexual harassment in my entire career. Period." Meanwhile, an attorney representing one of the alleged harassment victims said Tuesday night that his client believes Cain is lying, and wants to go public with her side of the story. The separation agreement included a confidentiality agreement with the association. "She's been very upset about this since the story broke last Sunday, because Mr. Cain has been giving the impression she came out and made false allegations," lawyer Joel Bennett said on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." Bennett also maintained that the case was resolved in a sexual harassment settlement, not the termination agreement described by Cain. Cain's 'smear card' working for GOP Bennett told CNN he has not contacted the Restaurant Association, but suggested that the group should waive the confidentiality agreement on its own. "Until they do that, she's not going to speak out," Bennett said. Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the association, said the group will "respond as appropriate" if contacted by Bennett. Asked Tuesday night on Fox News if he would push the Restaurant Association to go along with the request, Cain said he couldn't answer the question because of "legal implications." Cain insisted that he had not violated the confidentiality terms himself by talking about the claims to the media. "I never used their name," Cain told Fox. "For one of them, I didn't even know the name." Cain has so far only released details about one of the charges, saying it involved him gesturing to one of the women that she was the same height as his wife -- about five feet tall -- and came up to his chin.
The candidate has said he has no recollection of a second incident. According to Politico, however, one of the allegations involves an "unwanted sexual advance" at a hotel room in Chicago. Bennett did not indicate which of the two alleged victims he represents, though he said his client is taller than five feet. He said the client is "happily married" and works for the federal government. One of the many unanswered questions is who initially leaked the harassment allegations to Politico. Cain has assailed what he calls a "smear campaign" against him, and hasn't ruled out the possibility that an opponent from either the right or the left tried to create a "witch hunt." Bennett said Tuesday night it's his understanding that a former National Restaurant Association board member first leaked the story. Also unclear at the moment is the extent to which the story is damaging Cain's candidacy. No polls have yet been conducted entirely after the news broke. Cain's campaign claims that more than $400,000 was brought in from online fund raising Monday -- a large sum. So far, a number of high-profile conservatives are sticking by Cain, turning their focus instead to the so-called "mainstream" media -- a perennial favorite target of right-wing leaders.
"It's outrageous the way liberals treat a black conservative," columnist Ann Coulter told Fox News earlier this week. "This is another high-tech lynching." That phrase was first used by now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose confirmation hearings also focused on sexual harassment allegations. Fellow presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, however, appeared to allude to the Cain story Monday when she told a GOP audience in Iowa that "this is the year when we can't have any surprises with our (presidential) candidate." Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, is a tea party favorite. The story has the potential to knock Cain from the GOP's top tier and create an opening for another candidate to emerge as the main conservative alternative to Romney, according to political analyst Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. Cain himself filled that slot only after Bachmann and Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropped in the polls.
