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Sharon Bialek, the first woman to publicly accuse Herman Cain of sexual misconduct, today acknowledged she has experienced financial and legal difficulties in recent years, but said they were “absolutely not” related to her decision to come forward and detail her encounter with Cain in a car outside a Washington hotel fourteen years ago.
But Cain’s campaign signaled today they will seek to undermine Bialek’s credibility by highlighting her legal troubles and the Democratic Party ties of her lawyer, Gloria Allred. An NBC News review of court records show that Bialek’s legal problems include two personal bankruptcies, an Internal Revenue Service tax lien, and a civil judgment against her last year for an unpaid loan that is still outstanding.
“Absolutely not,” Bialek said when asked by NBC News Today show co-anchor Ann Curry whether her financial problems caused her to come forward and make accusations against Cain in hopes of making money. “There’s no skeletons in my closet. I told her [her lawyer Gloria Allred] 'this may come up.' I expected this may come up. It's not about me. I’m not running for president.”
Bialek, a single mother with a 13-year-old son, also denied that anybody from any rival campaign encouraged her to speak out against Cain in an effort to damage his candidacy. “I came forward of my own volition,” she said. In a separate interview on CNN, she said her son did encourage her to speak out. “You need to tell on him,” she quoted her son as saying.
Bialek’s comments came just hours after Cain flatly denied her graphic account that he sexually groped her and sought to have oral sex when the two met in Washington in 1997, telling TV host Jimmy Kimmel her story was “totally fabricated.” In a statement e-mailed to reporters, Cain spokesman JD Gordon described Allred, Bialek's lawyer, as a "high profile Democratic Party donor and activist." He added: "After attacking Herman Cain through anonymous accusers for a week, his opponents have now convinced a woman with a long history of severe financial difficulties, including personal bankruptcy, to falsely accuse the Republican frontrunner of events allegedly occurring well over a decade ago for which there is no record, nor even a complaint filed." (In a press release late Tuesday morning entitled "Who is Sharon Bialek?" the campaign gave the case numbers for six civil lawsuits in which Bialek was sued as well as her two bankruptcies. It also cited a press report indicating that she has worked for nine employers over the last seventeen years).
Cain has scheduled a press conference to rebut Bialek’s claims on Tuesday, signaling that the controversy over sexual harassment allegations -- which Cain’s campaign had hoped to put to rest last week -- is unlikely to end anytime soon.
The dueling accounts underscore the difficulties in sorting through politically charged sexual harassment allegations in which partisans on both sides seek to impugn the character of the principals with whatever evidence they can find.
Bialek dramatically raised the stakes for Cain on Monday by becoming the first woman to publicly speak out. News reports last week identified three other unidentified women at the National Restaurant Association who had made unspecified sexual allegations against Cain, two of whom received financial settlements with no findings of liability. Bialek detailed an encounter that she says took place in 1997 after she was let go from her job after six months as a National Restaurant Association foundation fundraiser. Seeking Cain’s help in finding new employment or getting her job back, she described how Cain -- then the president of the National Restaurant Association -- booked her a Washington hotel suite and took her out to dinner. While the two were alone in the car, Bialek says Cain put his hand up her skirt and then sought to have oral sex, telling her, “You want a job, right?”
Allred, who frequently represents accusers in celebrity cases, told reporters on Monday that she had sworn affidavits from two others -- one from a doctor who was Bialek’s boyfriend at the time and the other from a businessman -- who affirm that Bialek told them about an encounter with Cain shortly after it took place. But Allred has declined to release their names -- making it impossible at this point to verify her account-- and Bialek acknowledged Monday that she did not share details with them of what Cain had allegedly done in the car.
Bialek also did not describe her encounter with Cain to her current boyfriend, Mark Harwood, with whom she lives in suburban Chicago. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Harwood was quoted as saying he was in “a bit of shock” when Bialek first told her about her experience with Cain last Friday night, but that he admired her decision to come forward.
“Its not an anti-political thing,” Harwood said. “It’s not a money thing. She’s just trying to do the right thing and that takes guts.”
Court records show that Bialek filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and 2001. She was also involved in protracted domestic relations litigation starting in 1999 with a marketing executive at News America Marketing, a division of News Corp., over questions of paternity and child support for her now 13 year old son. Court records show that the marketing executive was ordered to pay child support that in 2010 was $66,700 a year.
More recently, the records show, the IRS filed a tax lien of nearly $5,200 against Bialek in 2009. (According to the Chicago Tribune account, the Illinois Department of Revenue has also claimed Bialek owed the state $4,300 in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.) Last year, an Illinois lending company filed a lawsuit against Bialek for an upaid ($3,539) loan and won a judgment against her of $3,539. The lawyer for the lender, Illinois Lending Corp., told NBC it was a standard “breach of contract” lawsuit and that the judgment is still outstanding.
Allred told reporters that Bialek has not had a job in about two years. Harwood, her boyfriend, told the Trbuine that the couple met online and moved in four years ago, getting engaged during a vacation in Venice last year.
“Sharon is very much one of these women with a huge heart and always trying to do the right thing,” he said. “Sometimes, I have to pull the reins in.”
Susan Bialek, the fourth woman to come forward and accuse GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain of sexual harassment, tells TODAY's Ann Curry why she waited 14 years to come forward and says her decision to do so was not financially motivated.
Leave a Comment:
excusses-you are part of the conservatives? I guess you are part of the reason your party is in such trouble! You have a small mind, followed by a small personality, it's hard to imagine how much further you might have gone in your life had you just taken a chance and allowed some sunshine in your life. In your life money is apparently everything, just to let you know not all of us think that way, quit going after hookers and find a real woman out there. But in you case your small mind might be followed up by a small package and hookers are your only choice!!
Small Mind hummm???? well now damm. What a comment...You Libs are a fine bunch to dictate who has a small mind. You Libs are the small minded ones. If any one thinks freely for them selfs you say they are small minded. Why? If we do not think like you do. Thank god I am not a LIBERAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bull, The Bamster is your man. He has made our nation in the sad shape it is in.
Yep it's the accuser's fault Koch-Cain Cowboy tried to sexually assult her....
Your lies wont help you Koch-Cain..
Go away
So TRUE he is the Man!!
YOU can not handle the truth!!!!!!!!!!!
You can put 10 people in a room and they can all witness the same event and I promise you no 2 will give the same answer to what they just witnessed. So I say what is the Truth you speak of?
The liberals have their version of the TRUTH!!!!!!!!! Liberals can not and will not face the truth.
excusses-- Perhaps the whole truth hasn't come out yet! It's only a matter of time before it does emerge but in the meantime it should give Mr. Cain a boost in selling his book. Do you think htat's what he really want or do you really think he wants to be president ?
Excuses,
You're really boring, you know.
It would be nice if most of the people could find common ground and come together for the sake of our future. not just see the world as Black or White, look for a gray in the solution
Liar.
If the legal beagle (and I mean that literally) left-wingnut Gloria Allred is involved one knows it questionable at best when considering the charges against Herman Cain.
Firstly, the accuser was seen embracing Cain at a Tea Party rally a month ago and there is even a photo of her standing next to him. Google it libs.
Secondly, it is credible this woman in bad financial shape, who declared bankruptcy once (maybe twice don't recall right now) that had other issues to add to her problems, is making a purely financially motivated accusation. Allred has made her living doing just this sort of thing - legal blackmail. She's a puke, period. And she is a dedicated left wingnut.
I knew the Dem attack machine would latch on to Cain I just did not think it would be this soon. The other accusers? Anonymous = non-existent trash.
Solution: let's put this women on a lie detector test then go from there. Until then she is a liar in my book. No one, and I mean not one single woman, would have put up with the groping she described. They would not have waited this long and would have reported it immediately - and they would not been in a photo op last month next to the perp she is now accusing.
And bag the argument she needed a job so did not say anything. e have legal recourse that with credible timely review would have garnered a ton a cash in a settlement when this incident supposedly occurred.
Give her the lie detector Gloria! Why not? Because she would fail it.
Put Cain and the women on lie detectors.
Didn't this lawyer represent the accuser of Wiener? Must be a Republican hate mongering hatchet lawyer then, huh?
Allred is a lawyer and she'll do anything for cash. But she drools most when her work involves discrediting Republicans.
She loves high profile garbage cases of all sorts. She brings new meaning to frivolous legal actions.
In short, she loves seeing herself on TV, period. Your typical narcissistic liberal intellectual. Not unlike President Barack Milhouse Obama.
rebelwcause-- You are doing exactly what you claim is happening to Mr. Cain, character assassination. Because Gloria Allred is a democrat doesn't mean that she isn't representing her client correctly or making false accusations. Let's keep in mind that Ms. Bialek is a repub and not a left-winger, using your words. Take a deep breathe and consider that Ms. Bialek may be telling the truth and Mr. Cain may be in denial. Character assassination isn't necessary, the truth will come out.
Sorry sunshine, the photo is not of Bialek, its another woman. The article states it was a mistake and apologised.
rebel wit out brain
the last big case allred had was representing the woman against wiener.
which proves your brain does not function
liar? in what way? Most people have good ideas, why can't one say I can work with you on this if you are willing to work with me on that! Thats usually how companies work, it is not all for one or none at all
How do any of you know anything for certain? Its amazing what you blockheads read and hear and then spew out of your pieholes that this is true or that is false. You are all idiots and lemmings. Get a life and just wait for all of this to play out. This time next year Obama will be gone and you will have another ahole to deal with.
“Sharon is very much one of these women with a huge heart and always trying to do the right thing,” he said. “Sometimes, I have to pull the reins in.” - yes and you've apparently done a lousy job, given her track record of lawsuits and bankruptcies. This lady is an opportunist, seeking money most likely. Maybe not this minute, but she definitely sees opportunity here to make all of her money problems go away.
kstarr1-- Come on I know you know a woman that has been taken advantage of in what was originally intended to be a lasting relationship and the relationship falls apart, man doesn't meet his obligations of childcare, woman gets the home and perhaps the mortgage to boot. This is not a perfect world but one has to admit that Ms. Bialek deserves credit for coming forth and opening her entire life to scrutiny. I would have more respect for Mr. Cain if he would do the same. Don't you agree that it will be difficult for Ms. Bialek to pursue money from Mr. Cain at this point, unless her claim turns out to be true?
She does not need to pursue any money from Mr. Cain. She stated in an interview today on one of the morning news appearances that if a magazine or book approached her to sell her story, would she reject it. Her answer was that although she did not do this to sell her story, she would have to think about each offer on a case by case basis. So right there, she did not outright reject selling her story which pretty much means, if a magazine or someone offered her a lot of money for it, she probably would sell it.
Now, I know that these are assumptions so we can only wait and see. However, I have one question. If by this time next week, we find out that she did sell her story...does that change her credibility or how you feel about the claims?
In fact, even now she may be having her legal fees taken care of (Lawrence O'Donnell a few days ago said he will personally take care of all legal expenses for any women that comes forward publicly with a sexual harassment claim against Mr. Cain).
Imagine, a single mom having financial troubles in America. Never heard that one before!
(All sarcasm intended!)
Take the lie detector test Herman...I dare you...
Herman is "history"...he'll never get the nomination anyway (teabaggers know they don't really want this black man as their nominee) Oh, the games they play (with each other)
Hey Koch brothers: I bet you wish you'd never put your money behind this guy...LOL You can switch all your funds to Perry if you'd like..it's not too late...He'll lose also.
Just a question...if Herman Cain did take a lie detector test as he said he would agree to if it meant getting this behind him and he passed with flying colors, would you change your statement or would you find some way to void the results of the lie detector test claiming it was inaccurate?
If you answer this question, I am looking for a simple answer...not some statement that he would never pass or anything, this is a hypothetical question and the only answers are the choices given....accept the test and change your statement or attempt to void the results...
Yes, is that simple enough.
I'm sorry...she has filed for bankruptcy twice? And more judgements? And paternity suits? Even if this were a charge against Obama, I would be questioning her statements, and trust me, I would LOVE to have something on Obama. Sorry guys, she has ZERO credibility.
Herman Cain boldly and belligerently denies any wrong doing even though there are currently four accusers. He says, “It ain’t ever happened” and “I ain’t dropping out”. Also there is a sizable number of Republicans who strongly advocate continuing support for Cain and many even criticize his accusers. All of that seems ridiculous as there are enough accusers to demand they be treated creditably, there is the strong possibility of more coming to light and stubbornly and blindly supporting him just says those people don’t care about anything other than their own interests. Regrettably, today that is a very typical Republican attitude that demonstrates a cocky, self-focused mentality that ignores politics is suppose to be responsible to the people and not just having a confidence in the power and influence that enables them to do whatever they want and to con the people and manipulate public opinion. He is “innocent until proven guilty” but he and those supporters are already guilty of distasteful arrogance and irresponsible avoidance.
Why do the call it the GOP? Grand Old Perverts!
From the article: "Allred told reporters that Bialek has not had a job in about two years."
Given that Ms. Bialek has not been employed and has been sued for loans, by the IRS, and had liens on her domicile, I have one question.
How is she affording the services of Gloria Allred?
Several days ago on MSNBC, Lawrence O'Donnell on his show The Last Word challenged any woman out there who had alleged sexual harassment claims against Herman Cain to come forward saying that he would pay for all legal fees to protect any woman who comes forward. He said "On Air" that this was a verbal contract to pay unlimited legal fees as long as they were needed for any woman willing to make herself public. That said, is Lawrence O'Donnell paying for Gloria Allred's legal services for Ms. Bialek?
I think it is a fair question. And if he is, the public has a right to know. If he is not, then the public has a right to know how she affords it as she is now a public figure and is impacting a presidential race for the White House.
Cain's a joke.. Whether he harrassed one woman, 500, or none at all, he doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting the nomination. Rove and Norquist have already detemined who the GOP candidate will be, and it won't be Cain.....
this totally predicted smear is brought to you by obama and the dnc. This is a diversion - nothing more - this is ALL obama has - the last thing he wants is the attention to be on his dismal record and countless lies. pay it no mind. There will be more of these cockroaches crawling out from under their rocks
Yes, PC/NOT - the last thing that Obama and the DNC want is to run against somebody that has no understanding of our government, our economy or foreign affairs. Yes Herman, the Chinese have had nukes since 1965.
It's amazing how many republicans here aren't bright enough to understand that Herman Cain is a dream for the democrats. But I guess that if you can be a republican after 8 years of Dubya, you have to be pretty dumb.
if obama is not afraid to run against Mr.Cain why did obama hire these women to make these false accusations.
I'll say one thing for Herman-he has excellent taste........I think she is smokin hot...:)
isn't it amazing how all of these women are coming out at the same time for incidents that they claim happened years ago. if he did anything that bad don't you think that they would have reported the incident when it happened?
Most of them did,or don't you read ??? Also I find it very funny that Fox claims Cain and Sharon were hugging at a function just last month when Cain says he never met the woman-Hahahaha !! Another woman is coming out publicly this week,her name is Karen Kraushaar and she did report it to the NRA where they both worked at the time.
i can read and the article states that her lawyer claims that she told two people about the incident when it happened but did not list who they were. also she never filed a police report.
i understand that a story will be coming out today that indicates this woman was a stripper in the past. not exactly what i would call a very credible accuser.
I don't know if these accusations are true (noone does) but even "a stripper" should not be subjected to sexual harassment!
JimS-459172
Yes, PC/NOT - the last thing that Obama and the DNC want is to run against somebody that has no understanding of our government, our economy or foreign affairs. Yes Herman, the Chinese have had nukes since 1965.
It's amazing how many republicans here aren't bright enough to understand that Herman Cain is a dream for the democrats. But I guess that if you can be a republican after 8 years of Dubya, you have to be pretty dumb.
You must mean like the Community Organizer in Chief and former Junior Most Senator from Illinois......the same guy that never held a job in his life? (Where did the money come from that sent him to Harvard anyway?????)
Yes you would have to be almost as dumb as still being a Democrat after 4 years of Barrack Obama and his ruinious hope and change.