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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Herman Cain’s Press Conference: His Tale Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test (with video)

Herman Cain’s Press Conference: His Tale Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test (with video)

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“I don’t even know that lady!”

Cain went all in during his press conference today, claiming that dirty Democrats are behind this scandal. He further claimed that he does not know Bialek, didn’t recognize her face or her voice, and categorically denied the allegations.

Throughout the press conference, Cain repeatedly referred to the allegations as “anonymous” before finally claiming that the allegations came from “both anonymous and non-anonymous sources.” He also blamed Democrats: “The Democrat machine in America has brought forth a troubled woman to make false accusations.”

Right — because Politico is the bastion of liberal journalism.

When trying to explain his initial flip-flopping regarding whether he recalled any settlement agreement, Cain tried (and failed) to walk a tightrope and draw a distinction between a “settlement” and an “agreement.” He claims that at first, he didn’t remember there being a settlement agreement, but then later that day — “after all those years” — he recalled that there was an agreement — emphasis on agreement:

“The woman filed a complaint that was found to be baseless. There was no legal settlement… Settlement, to me, has legal implications… Later in the day, I remembered that here was an agreement. ‘Settlement’ implies legal implications… There was an agreement. That’s what businesses sign with employees who are departing the company — they call it an agreement. Settlement implies legal implications.”

Sharon Bialek

Herman. Dude. No one in their right mind is going to believe that the National Restaurant Association (NRA) paid women tens of thousands of dollars as part of a simple employment termination agreement. And if the termination agreement was an agreement with no legal implications, why the hell was there a nondisclosure agreement? That dog isn’t hunting, bro.

Ultimately, I find it hard to believe that any Cain victim was paid thousands of dollars but was not required to release all liability in return. For a lawyer to fail to seek a release of liability would be malpractice, in my opinion. Otherwise, there would be nothing stopping any of these women from turning around and suing the pants off of Cain in a civil suit. Duh and/or hello!

Probably the most ridiculous moment during the press conference came in response to a reporter who asked whether Cain would be willing to take a lie detector test:

“Yes, I absolutely would. But I’m not going to do that unless I have a good reason to do that. … of course, I would be willing to do a lie detector’s test.”

And it was at that point, all logic and reason ran screaming out of the press room, while, in Cyberland, the Countertop Brigade gathered its minions and distributed wingnut talking points: (1) That lady can’t be trusted cuz she’s crazy; (2) it’s Obama’s fault; (3) But-but-CLINTON!; (4) librul hippocrits; and (5) it’s a lynchin’!

Meanwhile, Cain’s nomination chances have already taken a hit. Senator Murkowski said today that Cain should drop out of the race if the allegations are true.

Also, Cain’s favorability ratings have taken a dive in the last week. As reported in The Christian Post today “Sexual Harassment Claims Begin to Hurt Herman Cain“:

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Sunday found the percentage of Republicans who view former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Cain favorably dropped from 66 percent a week ago to 57 percent. His favorability declined also among all registered voters, from 37 percent to 32 percent.

“The most striking thing is that Herman Cain is actually seeing a fairly substantial decline in favorability ratings toward him particularly among Republicans,” Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson observed.

Notably, just four days ago, The Christian Post reported the following under the headline “Amid Scandal, Cain Support Remains High“:

A Rasmussen Reports poll has Cain leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by 3 percentage points as of Thursday among self-described conservative voters. Also on Thursday, a Cain spokesman released a statement revealing that his candidate has raked in over $1.2 million in donations since Sunday, despite being hounded by attacks on his character.

“Mr. Cain’s supporters around the country have rallied around him, and we have been encouraged by their strong showing,” spokesman J.D. Gordon said in an email to Reuters.

Karen Kraushaar (via Politico)

Unfortunately for Cain (and fortunately for those of us who are enjoying this soap opera), it looks like things will only get worse for Cain. One of the “anonymous” women, Karen Kraushaar, has come forward:

Karen Kraushaar, 55, an employee with the Treasury Department’s inspector general office, said she never wanted her name to be made public as one of Cain’s accusers. But a news organization published her name Tuesday and she now says she is ready to go before cameras.

“I am interested in a joint press conference for all the women where we would all be together with our attorneys and all of these allegations could be reviewed as a collective body of evidence,” Kraushaar told The Washington Post.

The Post learned Kraushaar’s name last week, but did not publish it, honoring her wishes to remain private.

When The Daily made her name public, she said she realized that she could not keep her identity private any longer.

“When you’re in a work situation where you are being sexually harassed, you are in an extremely vulnerable position,” Kraushaar said. “You do whatever you can to quickly get yourself a job someplace where you will be safe. That is what I thought I had achieved when I left.”

Ms. Kraushaar, a registered Republican, has a strong supporter in Democratic strategist Maria Cordona:

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, who said she’s a friend of Herman Cain accuser Karen Kraushaar, told CNN that the former NRA employee was grateful for help in getting a job when she left the trade group after alleging the now-candidate made a series of harassing actions.

Cardona recalled Kraushaar saying at the time, “You saved me – and this is a quote from her – from this monster.”

Yikes.

Even worse for Cain? Kraushaar kept copies of all of her allegations and the agreement settlement, and she doesn’t need to seek permission from the NRA to disclose this information because the non-disclosure agreement has been waived. Hoo boy!

Here are the videos. The whole affair was a hot mess:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Hermy? It doesn’t look good buddy.

But you know that. After all, you yourself said about the slow drip of allegations from previous employees and colleagues: “There will probably be more.”

Indeed, Hermy.

Indeed.

Somewhere, Newt Gingrich is growing a moustache, just so he can twirl it.

[cross-posted at Angry Black Lady Chronicles]

Reader Interactions

189Comments

  2. 2.

    Samara Morgan

    cherchez les blondes.
    ;)
    the twitter machine is on fire because Mark Block (smoking man) claimed Kraushaar’s son works for Politico and it aint true.

  4. 4.

    El Cid

    Someone‘s getting jealous that another candidate would be gathering up all the crazy.

    Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she would add former presidents Ronald Reagan, James Garfield and Calvin Coolidge to Mount Rushmore Tuesday in an ABC News/Yahoo! interview Tuesday.
    __
    When asked who she would add to the South Dakota monument, she proposed Reagan. She then mentioned James Garfield, who was president for just over seven months before being assassinated. She reportedly said she chose him because he is the only person to become president from the House of Representatives. (Bachmann could be the second if she is elected president.) [Ha, oh, um, yeah.]
    __
    She then said Calvin Coolidge would be a good candidate for the monument, since he “got the country’s budget back on track.”
    __
    Between 1927 and 1941, sculptors carved George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
    __
    When asked who would play her in a movie and what her theme song was, Bachmann answered Patricia Heaton and “Taking Care Of Business.”

  5. 5.

    DougJ

    I thought that you, of all people, would have titled this “Who’s That Lady”. A great 70s song plus it was in an ad for the Swiffer Sweeper.

  10. 10.

    Warren Terra

    Best line I’ve seen about the presser was that Cain was speaking in front of five flags – because the rule is one flag per accuser.

    Also, could we please stop the fetishizing and legitimating of so-called lie-detector tests? The only real question about them is whether the false-positive rate or the false-negative rate is more problematic.

    @El Cid:
    We’re gonna need a bigger mountain.

  11. 11.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    My big sad at all of this is I wanted an election featuring Cain and Obama. I wanted to see how many heads would explode at the ballot due to there being TWO black men running for president.

  12. 12.

    Mark S.

    Are we certain Cain isn’t some kind of performance artist? It’s the only logical explanation.

  13. 13.

    sukabi

    Somewhere, Newt Gingrich is growing a moustache, just so he can twirl it.

    aaaaannnnnd he’s picking out another set of kneepads, charging up the Tiffany’s account and stocking up on Xanax….

    no, that’s not right… Callista’s stocking up on the Xanax… and if she’s smart, looking for the exit.

  14. 14.

    sukabi

    Moderation? for what???

    Somewhere, Newt Gingrich is growing a moustache, just so he can twirl it.

    aaaaannnnnd he’s picking out another set of kne3pads, charging up the Tiffany’s account and stocking up on Xa^ax….

    no, that’s not right… Callista’s stocking up on the Xa^ax… and if she’s smart, looking for the exit.

  16. 16.

    Mark S.

    @El Cid:

    She reportedly said she chose [Garfield] because he is the only person to become president from the House of Representatives.

    Well, that’s a good reason. Is that even true?

  19. 19.

    El Cid

    @Warren Terra:

    We’re gonna need a bigger mountain.

    Well, don’t ask the federal government for it! We need the people of America to let the job creators do what they do and make mountains, out of tax breaks.

  20. 20.

    Spaghetti Lee

    Would anyone really be surprised if Bachmann was referring to Garfield the cat? In fact, that would probably be her running mate of choice. Better to fend off Michelle Obama’s vegetable-soshulist agenda, y’know.

  21. 21.

    Quaker in a Basement

    She then said Calvin Coolidge would be a good candidate for the monument, since he “got the country’s budget back on track.”

    And Mrs. O’Leary’s cow cleared the way for urban renewal.

  23. 23.

    sukabi

    @El Cid: the job creators don’t make mountains, they blow the shit out of them looking for oil, gold, & diamonds AND they’ll take those tax breaks, subsidies and short change us on the royalties and then whine that they haven’t beat last quarters profits by double digits, while taking billions off the top for bonuses.

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    I for one am loving the slow trickle of crazy…Bachman, Perry, Cain…even if it results in the Mittster being the Last Wingnut Standing, he’ll have to answer questions about all these nuts and how he hopes they’ll support him.

    Side note: I am trying to think of whether (in his own mind) Cain is Napoleon or Romeo, but he sure comes off as H. Ross Perot times Bob Packwood to me.

  25. 25.

    MikeJ

    @El Cid:

    When asked who would play her in a movie and what her theme song was, Bachmann answered Patricia Heaton and “Taking Care Of Business.”

    I despise her as much as anybody, but I *know* that if somebody asked me for my theme song I would blurt out something totally inappropriate because I had just heard it on my iPod.

    Back of a Car!
    Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey!
    Sex Machine!

  27. 27.

    General Stuck

    looks like dems and sanity are the winners of this election

    gross wingnuttery takes it on the chin

  29. 29.

    Suffern ACE

    @El Cid: Christ. Well, since she’s not a serious candidate any longer, why bother to ask her serious questions. That said, i’ve always had a desire to see Arthur’s mug on that monument.

  32. 32.

    Donald G

    @El Cid:

    When asked who would play her in a movie and what her theme song was, Bachmann answered Patricia Heaton and “Taking Care Of Business.”

    So, her movie’s themesong would be a song about a male prostitute hustling. How socially conservative of her.

  33. 33.

    Suffern ACE

    One of the minor highlights of my day was listening to the newscaster on 101.9 in New York cutting to the Cain presser. “And we go live now to Scottsdale, where Herman Cain has just taken the stand.” two second pause. “Podium. Herman Cain has taken the podium.”

  34. 34.

    Baud

    @General Stuck:

    gross wingnuttery takes it on the chin

    You’re not suggesting we’ve hit peak wingnut, are you? All this election proves is that the wingnuts need to be even purer in their commitment to conservative values.

  35. 35.

    burnspbesq

    I’m reasonably certain that I have no need to know how ABL knows what Herman Cain’s tale smells like.

    Did he harass you, too? And if yes, why didn’t Nate Dogg bite his nuts off?

  36. 36.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    The fattest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

    Pie filter!

  40. 40.

    Ms.B

    Oh yes,

    Karen Kraushaar is gonna be bad for Cain.

    A Brown graduate with a Masters in Journalism from Michigan.

    Communications Director for the Treasury Department.

    Wife and mother now.

    And this (understatement) should be interesting if it happens:

    However, Joel Bennett, Kraushaar’s lawyer, said in an email late Tuesday: “My client has decided to hold a joint news conference with as many of the women who complained of sexual harassment by Herman Cain as will participate. Gloria Allred has agreed that her client will participate in such a conference. We will advise all media in advance of the date, time and location of the conference.”

  41. 41.

    Nied

    I swear to god that Cain pic is soooo meme-worthy. ABL you wouldn’t happen to have a larger version would you?

  45. 45.

    Suffern ACE

    @Origuy: If you’re going to go with “last elected office held before assuming Presidency” I believe you would also then need to include Lincoln on that list.

  46. 46.

    Little Boots

    If I believed in the Fox News Conspiracy horseshit view of reality, I would say, there has been a year long conspiracy to thrust the silliest most ridiculous Republicans into the face of the American public to ensure that Obama gets reelected.

  47. 47.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Cacti:

    By Democrat Machine does he mean the Romney campaign?

    Yes that, and Politico.

    You have to recalibrate your world view quite a bit to get a glimpse through the looking glass into the teaniverse.

  48. 48.

    ABL

    @DougJ: ha! i tend to make my titles descriptive for SEO purposes and so i know what the post is about down the line.

    but yes, that would have made a better subtitle!

  51. 51.

    Mark S.

    Later in the day, I remembered that here was an agreement. ‘Settlement’ implies legal implications

    So does an agreement, if there is offer, acceptance, and consideration.

  52. 52.

    Little Boots

    more than Ohio, more than Maine, I think Mississippi is the big news. I thought they would do anything, no matter how stupid, if it came with a Christian label. no, they will not. things have changed. finally.

  53. 53.

    Redshift

    Local moment of on-topic hilarity and Profile in… not Courage; perhaps Follow-Through?

    One of my fellow Democrats at another polling place said there was a Republican there who was collecting signatures to put Herman Cain on the primary ballot in Virginia. Apparently he had said he would do it three weeks ago, and felt obligated to follow through. Apparently he was getting a lot of flack from Republican women.

  54. 54.

    Steve

    @Mark S.: Uh huh. You can “settle” a dispute even if there is no litigation. That severance agreement surely included a release of all legal claims, etc.

  58. 58.

    Ms.B

    @Nied:

    Oh, there’s a gif of that creepy slow smile of Cain’s going all about the intertubes.

    Makes me want to duck under a desk, 1960’s “Don’t nuke me now” style.”

  61. 61.

    Little Boots

    he’s done, but how ridiculously close he came. or at least how ridiculously plausible he seemed.

  62. 62.

    Ms.B

    @MikeJ:

    Yes! Thank you.

    And so Luddite-ian that I can’t figure out how to do that here when I can at DK. (Don’t hate me.)

  63. 63.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Now the ad is “Bypass the media filter” and find out the TRUTH about Herbie Cain.

    You mean that he’s an inept scumbag, or a scumbag peformance artist?

  64. 64.

    Little Boots

    but after tonight, the republic seems safer altogether.

    incidentally, you all are allowed to talk to me. I hardly ever bite.

  73. 73.

    jeff

    Spent half the night trying to explain to my Republican parents the difference between sexual harassment and sexual relations. One is with consent, the other is not. Over and over again I said this seemingly obvious statement. I failed to get the distinction across.

    “Lots of powerful men have affairs”.

  74. 74.

    Viperbuck

    Another reason Ms. Crazy Eyes might swoon for James A. Garfield could be that he was the only ordained minister elected to be potus.

  76. 76.

    Death Panel Truck

    Shorter Herman Cain, on whether he’d submit to a polygraph examination:

    “Yes, I will, but no, I won’t.”

  84. 84.

    Xenos

    What is the story on the Krushaar waiver of non-disclosure? Did the text of the settlement not mention it? Have Cain’s statements made an explicit waiver non-enforceable?

  85. 85.

    The Other Chuck

    @MikeJ:

    Eh, it loops too fast. What makes it creepy is how he stares for like eight seconds, then sloooooowly bares his teeth.

  88. 88.

    Little Boots

    @Xenos:

    I wonder if she’s just accepting at this point that giving the money back is preferable to putting up with the bullshit. Or maybe making more down the road. either way, cain fucked up hugely by opening the door.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    @Little Boots:

    My compliments. I’m off to bed, because I seem to have run out of things to drink. Hope you find some other night owls to play with.

  101. 101.

    Admiral_Komack

    “The Democrat machine in America has brought forth a troubled woman to make false accusations.”

    The woman is a TeaRepublican, dumbass.

    Herman Cain: Not ABLE to be President.

  107. 107.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    @handy: My college freshman roommate and I listened to “Double Nickels on the Dime” over and over. RIP D Boon.

  117. 117.

    Admiral_Komack

    Herman Cain:

    “I’m not an expert on how the brain works.”

    You got THAT right…brother.

  118. 118.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    @handy: TSOL! I think I saw them once at a place in Santa Clara called “One Step Beyond”.

    There was a great radio show on KFJC-FM on Thursday afternoons when I was in college, I heard a bunch of great stuff like Bad Brains, Black Flag, Los Olvidados, DRI, the Mr. T Experience, etc etc.

  134. 134.

    Steeplejack

    FYWP is screwing me over. Can’t link to my preferred version of Van Morrison’s “Moondance” with cool video, so I’m going to see if this works and then fade out. FYWP.

    Good night, Little Boots, I’m going down.

  135. 135.

    Suffern ACE

    @handy: Yeah. I mean how hard can it be to just say “Reagan” to that chestnut? It’s the only answer those voters want to hear anyway. They’ve been answering that question “Reagan” since 1989. It’s one of those questions which actually has a settled answer for Republicans.*

    (That said, Calvin C. was Reagan’s favorite president (or so he said when asked)), so putting Harding’s VP on the ballot is like saying Reagan twice.

  148. 148.

    Little Boots

    you know what’s sad? there’s all these links on top of my computer and I can’t get rid of them.

    that’s sad, dammit!

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack

    Just so everyone knows, FYWP. It put a message into moderation with Richie Havens’s version of “Just Like a Woman” and the Madison Square Garden 30th-anniversary concert performance with everyone doing “My Back Pages.” My point being that I almost always like Dylan more as a writer, with someone else performing.

    And FYWP.

  167. 167.

    Steeplejack

    @piratedan:

    Hey, a lot of those second-tier British invasion groups are underrated and too soon forgotten. My faves: Zombies, Hollies, Animals.

    ETA: Wow, chick drummer! I think she’s on loan from this group.

  169. 169.

    Little Boots

    i love dylan, and I sort of love his voice, but yes truth be told, many, many better singers out there and I love these interpretations.

  171. 171.

    Steeplejack

    @Yutsano:

    I love Sibelius, but I cannot get into that at this late hour. I am already in zombie Steep mode. Real Steep went to bed half an hour ago, maybe longer.

    Gettin’ kinda hungry. Need brains.

  172. 172.

    piratedan

    @Steeplejack: that’s actually Honey Lantree…. hence da name… her brother is the stiff looking chap playing base… and supposedly the Ernie Douglass lookalike on rhythm was her boss/beau founder of the group. One nifty note in that video clip, you see all the fellas playing those wicked Burns Guitars and these guys were one of Joe Meek’s bands… note the sound similarities to The Shadows and The Tornadoes.

  185. 185.

    magurakurin

    @Donald G: I suppose a song can mean whatever you want it to mean, but I think one would have a difficult time finding textual evidence of the claim that the song is about a male prostitute in these lyrics:

    If it were easy as fishin’
    You could be a musician
    If you could make sounds loud or mellow
    Get a second-hand guitar
    Chances are you’ll go far
    If you get in with the right bunch of fellows
    People see you having fun
    Just a-lying in the sun
    Tell them that you like it this way
    It’s the work that we avoid
    And we’re all self-employed
    We love to work at nothing all day
    And we be

    Taking care of business (every day)
    Taking care of business (every way)
    We be been taking care of business (it’s all mine)
    Taking care of business and working overtime

  186. 186.

    harlana

    To quote Stephanie Miller, how many women have seen that smile at the copy machine? o.O

    And, yeh, that was a shitload of flags, didn’t hit me until somebody mentioned it this morning.

  188. 188.

    Michael B.

    Waitaminute. MIchael understands the standard GOP logic as being that Dem females are ugly or lesbian or hirsute hippies or all of the above. Seeing Ms Bialek thusly confuses Michael, and makes him speak in the third person.

  189. 189.

    Donald G

    @magurakurin:

    To the BTO fans who’ve corrected my false claim about the song, “Taking Care of Business”, you are all correct and I am wrong. The erroneous claim was something I read in a music piece in my then-local paper more than 20 years ago which stayed in the back of my memory and only came to mind because of Michelle Bachmann and the Marcus Bachmann’s “pray away the gay” charlatanism. I’m sorry for putting out an erroneous assertion. (But, man, it would’ve been so fittingly ironic if it had actually been true, though.)

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