A fourth woman on Monday accused Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual misconduct, delivering a bombshell tale of an unwanted sexual advance bordering on assault, that took place in a car on a Washington, D.C., street almost 15 years ago.
Cain, who is tied at the top of the most recent polls, issued a statement denying the charges, which were delivered at a packed New York City press conference.
The accuser is Sharon Bialek, who worked for an educational foundation that is part of the National Restaurant Association that Cain led in the 1990s.
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Bialek said that while she was in a car with Cain he put his hand up her skirt and tried to force her head into his lap. When Bialek told Cain she had a boyfriend and had only sought him out for career advice and not a sexual encounter, Cain responded: “You want a job, right?”
“I was very, very surprised and very shocked,” said Bialek, who appeared with celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred at a packed news conference at the Friars Club.
“I want you, Mr. Cain, to come clean,” Bialek said. “Just admit what you did. Admit you were inappropriate to people.”
Bialek is the fourth woman to accuse Cain of inappropriate behavior or harassment but the first to deliver detailed accusations publicly.
Politico last week disclosed that the National Restaurant Association Cain reached financial settlements with two women who accused Cain of sexual harassment. A third woman, who remains anonymous, accused him of misconduct in an interview with the Associated Press.
But Bialek’s disclosure provides a name, face and details to charges that Cain’s campaign tried to discredit as the work of anonymous sources.
Cain, who is running on a plan to replace the tax code with a 9 percent flat tax, has managed to remain atop the polls despite the string of accusations, though surveys show voters viewing him less favorably. He has told reporters that he will no longer discuss the accusations because he wants to get “back on message.”
Cain’s spokesman, J.D. Gordon, said Bialek’s accusations were false and a distraction for the real issues, including the nation’s $15 trillion debt and high unemployment.
“All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false,” Gordon said in a statement. “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.”
Democratic political strategist Christopher Hahn said Cain’s bigger problem is the accumulation of accusations against him.
“The problem he has right now is the drip, drip, drip, drip, drip,” Hahn said. “And the drip, drip, drip kills everyone. It always drowns you.”
Bialek said she sought out Cain for job advice after she was let go by the restaurant association’s educational foundation for not raising enough money.
Bialek described how she arrived at her hotel in Washington, D.C., only to find that her room had been upgraded to a spacious suite. She met Cain in the lobby bar and the two went to dinner together. At dinner, Cain asked how she liked her room. When she gushed over the unexpectedly luxurious accommodations, Cain said, “I upgraded you.”
