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Subscribe to RSSUpdates: Herman Cain will hold a news conference in Phoenix, Ariz. Tuesday at 3 p.m. local time to address allegations made by Sharon Bialek. The GOP hopeful also talked about the new allegations during an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live.
A fourth woman, Sharon Bialek, leveled new allegations of sexual harassment against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain at a press conference on Monday.
Bialek, a former employee of the National Restaurant Association's educational foundation, accused Cain of making an inappropriate advance toward her in 1997, when she visited Cain in Washington, D.C. to seek his assistance in finding a new job. She appeared at a press conference arranged by attorney Gloria Allred.
Bialek accused Cain of touching her in an inappropriate manner during her visit to D.C., where Cain was still serving as president of the restaurant association. When she rebuffed him, Cain said, "You want a job, right?" per Bialek's retelling.
Bialek is the fourth woman to have accused Cain of harassment during his tenure as the top official at the restaurant lobby. The association settled with two of them, and a third woman was reported last week by the Associated Press. None of these women have made public their identities, and NBC News hasn't independently verified the stories of the third woman or Bialek.
Cain addressed Bialek's accusations during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
"So at least it wasn't one of the many that have the first name 'Anonymous,' so now this one actually had a name and a face and we were gonna see who it was and what it was," Cain said.
"We're going to have a press conference. We are taking this head on," he added during the show taped Monday evening.
"There is not an ounce of truth in all of the accusations and my team is putting this stuff together. That's why I'm willing to do a press conference tomorrow, to set the record straight," Cain said.
Earlier, the candidate's spokesman denied the new allegations in a statement while the press conference was under way.
"Just as the country finally begins to refocus on our crippling $15 trillion national debt and the unacceptably high unemployment rate, now activist celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is bringing forth more false accusations against the character of Republican front-runner Herman Cain," said J.D. Gordon, referring to the attorney, Allred, who is representing Bialek.
"All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false. Mr. Cain has never harassed anyone. Fortunately the American people will not allow Mr. Cain's bold '9-9-9 Plan,' clear foreign policy vision and plans for energy independence to be overshadowed by these bogus attacks," Gordon added.
Bialek said that the new allegations had prompted her to go public.
"Now I'm coming forward to give a face and a voice to those women who cannot, or, for whatever reasons, do not wish to come forward, and on behalf of all women who are sexually harassed in the workplace but do not come out of fear of retaliation or public humiliation," she said.
"I really didn't want to be here today, and wouldn't have been here if it had not been for the three other women who have alleged sexual harassment against Mr. Cain," she added. "I want you, Mr. Cain, to come clean. Just admit what you did; admit that you were inappropriate to people ... Mr. Cain, I implore you, make this right so you and the country can move forward and focus on the real issues at hand."
Cain's campaign has endured a week's worth of story about accusations regarding sexual harassment, but has steadfastly denied that Cain engaged in any such activities. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday found that a majority of Republicans were unconcerned by the allegations.
Allred said that Bialek had no plans to file a lawsuit or sell her story. Bialek said she confronted Cain at a Tea Party event a month ago in Chicago where Cain admitted recognizing her before he was whisked away.
"If all of these allegations by all of the women who have been reported to have made them are true, then I, for one, am disgusted at Mr. Cain's serial sexual harassment of women," said Allred, the famously combative attorney. "Because Mr. Cain, while running for president, is actively lying to Americans, showing disdain for our common sense and intellect."
Sharon Bialek details a 1997 incident in which she alleges she sought help from Herman Cain in finding a job, and experienced a sexually inappropriate incident. NBC News can not verify her claims.
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Ten years ago Herman Cain was rich and president of the national restaurant association. Of course he did all these things with all these women; that's what rich, powerful people do, take advantage of not rich, not powerful people in any way they want. Cain's problem is he didn't think ahead. He never thought he would run for president and he surely didn't think he was going to be competitive. I guess doing what he did was normal for @!$%#s with lots of money and lots of power. HOWEVER, DON'T RUN FOR PRESIDENT TEN YEARS LATER AND THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GET A PASS ON YOUR PAST BEHAVIOR DUMB ASS......You are now officially cooked, your time is up, take that dopey 999 thing and your "grand" vision and head on over to FOX. I'm sure they'll have something for you......
Not to mention I dont know about anywhere else in this country.... but...
When he was in charge of Godfather Pizza... All the restaurants here in my state went belly up and closed or went out of business...
Does NOT say much for his Business Acumen does it? And we should let him be president?
OMG imagine the massive explosion of illegitimate births!
So is Mr. Cain joining the elite skirt chaser club with JFK, MLK, and Billy Boy Clinton?
Don't forgert Johney Edwards, Jesse Jacka$$on, Teddy Chapaquidic K., Chucky Rangal, etc. The list is endless.
Just like the Clarence Thomas crap. If these women were harassed why did they wait this long to say something?--economykiller
Now, now, my good man, let's not blame the victim. Maybe the women were afraid to speak out back then. They might have thought no one would believe them. There are a lot of reasons why.
Geeze, these women are coming out of the woodwork. They need to crawl back in with the rest of the worms.
Isn't it really hard to have your left arm reaching up someone's skirt and your right hand up behind someone's head?
I mean first of all, what's the end game there? It doesn't seem like a very good plan.
But second of all, it seems almost physically impossible to accomplish pulling someone's head down to your crotch with your right hand and reaching up their skirt with your left, unless your arms are 4 feet long.
This chick is lying. I'm decided.
Ambulance chaser minus an ambulance + someone seeking her 15 minutes of fame = "news". This happened in 1997. 19 freakin 97. Why didn't she address this issue then? Whay didn't she hire Alred then? Why, because there were no TV cameras and no $ to back it up. I am not saying Cain didn't do this, but it is awfully fishy that she did nothing about it until now. Sounds like someone is greasing her palm.
If this ladies story can be substantiated, I will have to, regretfully drop my support for Mr. Cain. I hope the story is wrong, but at this point, it does not look very good. So, if I was so harsh on old BILL, I have to be true in my treatment of Mr. Cain. I will not let the Liberals say I'm two faced in my treatment of a Republican or Democrat.
another scum bag weirdo,what an assortment from the ''family values people'',a religious nut,a guy on his 4th wife(or is it 5?) a dim wit racist,executioner from texas that talks to God,and now the sexual harrassement dude..This guy needs to work with tiger woods,not run for president.hey GOP you better check to see if Romney ever worked in a boys camp,he'll be the next one.
ANYTIME Gloria Allred is involved, there is automatic loss of credability! She sold out the house person and put her at risk of deportation just to try and blow up Meg Whitman's chances at the California Governor's Chair. ANYONE who seeks out this parasitic microbe, or believes anything she says, has an IQ that matches their neck size!
How sad are you? Allred was raped and had to have an abortion, hens the reason she takes on these type of cases.
"Go GOP! Your logic is an insult to stupidity."
Pretty soon trying to pick up a girl at the bar or anywhere will become sexual harrassment in this country...
Only when you offer the waitress the managers spot in exchange for sex.
Why are there so many republican put downs. Give me a break. The man you elected put cigars in places only XXX movies can show. Grow up.....
We denouced Clintons acts. But not one of them went to police claiming sexual harassment a huge difference. huge.
Cain is a pervert, he should not be around decent women or childern.
She does look like she could suck start a Harley. Act like a slut don't be shocked when someone take you serious.
OK Im taking you serious, on your knees bucko.
BJs are the only kind of jobs republicans want to talk about these days.
This woman's story was rehearsed to leave out all evidence that she had used her looks, and flattery, etc., to get on Cain's good side, and to try to get her job back. The chances are that she and Cain actually had sex and then she didn't get her job in return. So now she's getting even. The things she says he did are amateurish and clearly made up - they don't fit any realistic sequence for sexual advances, etc.
I personally think Cain IS a womanizer and probably very slick at it. But in this case, we have a woman that has been coached by her attorney to lie (an attorney somewhat notorious for doing that by the way).
I am nikki I am people I have feelings I am illegal NOW I"M RICH.
If their was one I could see but, their is Four, their are probably more.
Yeah. The same attorney that coached Weiner's accuser.
You don't have a clue what you are talking about.
Baron you don't know that. That is pure speculation on your part. It is the hate that you that make you say what you say. The women looks like a decent person that pays her bills and does not harass anyone. That is also speculation but I believe the women more than Cain.
*NBC disclamier* We can't verify these accusations but we're running with it anyway.
Nuff said.
Four eyewitnesses to abuse of power are not sufficient. Now they want a video tape. Hilarious.
After reading a few pages, of comments, it is pretty easy to understand why women don't frequently come forward. I know nothing at all about this woman, and neither do most of the other commentors, some of who have branded her as a slut, opportunist, etc. etc. etc.
WORD.
She looks like she took eyebrow drawing lessons from Nancy Pelosi. Scary!!!!
So what is this country coming to? Do we simply say that men are no longer men and women are men now?
What do they want? A reversal of natural instincts? So the future for America - men can't be men and only the woman can ask "Do You Wanna Do IT?"
That would be a turn of events. You want a job Mr? Get busy.
9 out of 10 times these accusations are false let us not forget Bill Clinton and his sexual miss steps. That are actually on tape confirmed to have happened look how little people cared but when a ruplican even has an accusation that he has done this well it is world news.
Like Gingrich- screwing around on his own wife while running down Clinton? Like THAT?
Funny, funny, funny! The zealots who are foaming at the mouth over this are the same people who shrugged at the Paula Jones harassment by Bill Clinton, not to mention the other cases where he exploited women.
Where the double-standard exists there is no credibility.
Your whole party exploits women. Your whole party is all about the representation of rich white males. What about Gingrich, screwing around on his own wife while running Clinton down?
so the scum dog gloria alred comes out with this bull@!$%#ter who has no proof this ever happened. allred who turned down juanita broderick who was raped by bill clinton, she said she wasnt interested in the case if it were a republican she would of crawled over hot coals for the case, every time you see a huge election this hound comes out of her hole in the ground...
Where did Gloria find this Blonde Bimbo ?
When four people come forward, with nothing to gain, it is vey, very difficult to doubt their veracity.
Just observing Cain's cockiness and egotism, his distain for any question asked, the naked ignorance of his 9-9-9 falsehood and his general ignorance of important issues, renders it very, very difficult to beleive a word he says.
And that is acceptable to the Republican party 2011?
Sure am proud to be an Independent!
Nothing to Gain?? Your joking right? See my post on page 16 and re-think on that. Gloria Alred wouldn't be this latest bimbo's lawyer if she didn't smell big money. Interviews = $$, TV appearances = $$, Book/movie deals = $$. It doesn't matter if any of it is true, that she has no proof, documentation, etc. to support her accusations. And Gloria gets her 50% +.
Your personal hatred and bias against Mr. Cain clouds you judgement. SAD.
Lets see, the NRA has given the first two the ability to speak on their allegations ( we don't even know their names ) and neither wil,l except thru their attorney.
Two more pop up and talk to any news media that will pay them. One hires the most liberal anti republican in the world and everyone is suppose to believe it with no proof. Something that may or may not have happened 14 years ago eveyone should believe because they think they remember it that way, WTF??
This last one though is something else, butt ugly, can't remember her lines, and really looks like something working the streets on the poor side of town.
There is no way Cain has that bad of taste.