Democratic lawmaker asks Conyers to resign

Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York became the first Democrat to ask Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., to resign, saying on Wednesday she believes the accusations of sexual harassment against him. “I’ve reviewed the allegations against him, and they’re as credible as they are repulsive,” Rice said in a statement. “Whether it happened 40 years ago or last week, settlement or no settlement, Democrat or Republican—harassment is harassment, assault is assault.” Other Democratic colleagues called the accusations disturbing and troubling but stopped short of asking Conyers to leave office. Conyers settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 for $27,111.75 from his taxpayer-funded office budget after a woman said she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances, according to a report from BuzzFeed News. The report includes other accounts of Conyers’ alleged misconduct in the workplace. The 88-year-old congressman admitted the settlement but denies all accounts of sexual harassment. His attorney, Arnold Reed, said Conyers is taking the accusations seriously but has no plans to resign. Meanwhile, Melanie Sloan, a Washington ethics lawyer, told The Washington Post that Conyers harassed and verbally abused her while she worked for him in the 1990s. The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Conyers’ conduct on Tuesday.