Democrats rush to call for John Conyers to resign after Nancy Pelosi opens the floodgates

Hours after Pelosi, D-Calif., said Conyers should step down, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley issued statements calling on Conyers to resign.

“As I have said, the allegations against Rep. Conyers are serious and credible,” Hoyer, D-Md., said. “As we continue to hear more, I think it’s appropriate for him to resign.”

“The right thing is for Congressman Conyers to resign,” Crowley, D-N.Y., echoed in his own statement.

After Pelosi’s declaration, though, the number of Democrats publicly pressuring Conyers to leave Congress swelled.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., the highest-ranking African American in Congress and assistant Democratic leader, said Conyers should resign, and told reporters he told Conyers that doing so “would be in his best interest.”

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also called for the Michigan Democrat to step down.

“I believe it is time for Congressman Conyers to resign,” Lujan tweeted.

Rep. Dan Kildee became the first Democrat in the Michigan delegation to say Conyers should step down.

“No person no matter where they work should have to tolerate the kind of harassment that has been alleged,” Kildee told CNN on Thursday. “I took a very close look at the statements made by two individuals. No one likes to believe that a person that they worked with and that they respect can abuse their power and harass women like this, but there can be no tolerance for it. Unfortunately, as painful as it is, I have to conclude he should resign.”

In a tweet Thursday, Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., said he believes the women who have come forward with allegations against Conyers.

“I have respected, admired and worked with Congressman John Conyers for years. But I believe the women who have accused him of sexual improprieties,” he tweeted. “Congressman Conyers should resign.”

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said Conyers should step down, and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, not only called for the Michigan Democrat to leave Congress but for Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to do so as well. Several women have accused Franken of touching them inappropriately both before and during his time in the Senate.

“I agree with Pelosi. Conyers should resign. And for that matter, Franken should resign too. These are credible allegations, and I believe these women,” Ryan tweeted. “Congress should set the example for all industries and be a safe place for women to work.”

Conyers has denied the allegations against him, and Arnold Reed, his lawyer said Thursday the congressman hasn’t decided whether he will step down.

Reed also vehemently pushed back against Pelosi’s comments about her Democratic colleague.

“Nancy Pelosi did not elect the congressman, and she sure as hell won’t be the one to tell the congressman to leave,” Reed said.

Conyers was hospitalized Wednesday due to stress, a spokesman for his family told reporters Thursday.

Allegations against Conyers, 88, first surfaced last week when BuzzFeed reported the details of a settlement between the Michigan Democrat and a former female staffer in a wrongful dismissal case. The staffer said she was fired for rejecting Conyers’ sexual advances.

The former female staffer, whose identity was unknown, spoke publicly about her allegations against Conyers for the first time Thursday morning in an interview with NBC’s “Today” show.

“It was sexual harassment, violating my body, propositioning me, inviting me [to a] hotel with the guise of discussing business and then propositioning me for sex,” Marion Brown, who served as Conyers’ deputy chief of staff from 2003 to 2014, said. “He’s just violated by both, he has touched me in different ways, and it was very uncomfortable and very unprofessional.”

After the details of Brown’s settlement were revealed, more women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Conyers, who is the longest-serving member of Congress and a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Deanna Maher, who worked for Conyers from 1997 to 2005, accused the Democrat of touching her inappropriately and making sexual advances toward her on three different occasions. Melanie Sloan, who worked as minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, said Conyers harassed and mistreated her in the 1990s.

It was also reported that Maria Reddick, a former scheduler for the congressman, filed a lawsuit against Conyers accusing him of sexual misconduct, but withdrew the complaint after a court denied her request to keep it sealed.

In the days after the allegations against Conyers were made public, just a small handful of House Democrats called on him to resign.

Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., was the first to do so, saying in a statement last week the allegations against him were “as credible as they are repulsive.”

“The women who reported this behavior suffered serious professional repercussions for doing so, which is exactly why so many victims of sexual harassment and assault decide not to step forward,” Rice said. “If men who engage in this behavior suffered real repercussions, more victims would speak up—and maybe other men would decide to act like decent, civilized adults and not prey on women who work for and trust and admire them.”

She was joined by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who said Tuesday Democrats cannot deride President Trump and Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore while turning “a blind eye to our own who face credible charges against them.”

“It is not easy for me to reach this conclusion because, as a civil rights activist, I have looked up to Rep. Conyers for decade,” Jayapal said in a statement. “I believe these women, I see the pattern and there is only one conclusion – Mr. Conyers must resign.”

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said Wednesday the Michigan Democrat should leave Congress.

“Obviously that’s his decision, but I would think he should,” he told CSPAN.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said stepping down was the right path forward, just before Pelosi said Conyers should resign.

“I do think a resignation is the better course of action,” Grisham, D-N.M., said. “These issues require a strong dramatic response if you want a culture shift.”