Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she believes Melanie Sloan, an ethics lawyer who said she was abused by Rep. John Conyers while working for him two decades ago, after meeting her and hearing her allegations about the longtime Democratic lawmaker.
The meeting came a day after Pelosi raised questions about whether she believed accusers who said they were sexually harassed by Conyers.
“This afternoon, I spoke with Melanie Sloan who worked for Congressman Conyers on the Judiciary Committee in the mid-1990s.” Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “Ms. Sloan told me that she had publicly discussed distressing experiences while on his staff. I find the behavior Ms. Sloan described unacceptable and disappointing. I believe what Ms. Sloan has told me.”
Pelosi blamed the nondisclosure rules for reporting harassment as the reason she has not yet spoken to all the women accusers.
“I have not had the opportunity to speak with the other women, one of whom cannot speak publicly because of the secretive settlement process in place,” Pelosi said. “That ridiculous system must be ended and victims who want to come forward to the Ethics Committee must be able to do so.”
Pelosi has been harshly criticized over the past 24 hours after appearing on NBC’s “Meet The Press” and declining to condemn the alleged behavior by Conyers, who was serving as the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee before stepping down from that position later Sunday.
Accusers say Conyers, D-Mich., made inappropriate sexual advances and walked around in his underwear in front of them.
During an interview on “Meet the Press,” Pelosi would not say she specifically believed the women accusers who she did not know.
“That’s for the Ethics Committee to review,” Pelosi said.
Sloan is the founding executive director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.
Sloan said during her time working for Conyers as minority counsel to the Judiciary Committee, the lawmaker behaved abusively and inappropriately toward her. Sloan said she reported the abuse to Democratic leadership but nothing was done. At the time, Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., was minority leader. He said he does not recall the incident.
Conyers is 88 and has served in Congress since 1965.
“Ms. Sloan, as a respected ethics expert and attorney, also gave me valuable feedback into the substantive reforms many of us in Congress are advocating to foster a climate of respect and dignity, and to protect legislative branch employees,” Pelosi said.
