Herman Cain Campaign Considering Legal Action Against Politico: Report

An aide to Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told the Washington Post on Thursday that the campaign is considering taking legal action against Politico, which ran the first report on sexual harassment allegations made against Cain during his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.

"This is likely not over with Politico from a legal perspective," the aide, who was not identified by name, told the Post without elaborating on the campaign's intentions.

However, according to Business Insider, Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei said in a statement, "We have heard nothing from the Cain campaign." He added, "We stand confidently behind every story Politico reporters have written on the topic."

Politico reported that two women received financial payouts from the National Restaurant Association over allegations of sexual harassment more than a decade ago. A third woman told the AP this week that she considered filing a workplace complaint over what she believed was inappropriate behavior exhibited by Cain around the same time the other women settled harassment claims.

According to Politico, one of the women received $45,000 in her settlement, while the New York Times reported that the other was paid $35,000.

Cain, meanwhile, has made inconsistent remarks in addressing the controversy. The former Godfather's Pizza CEO has maintained that he has never sexually harassed anyone and his campaign hasn't held back in engaging in the blame game.

HuffPost's Jon Ward reports:

Cain's chief of staff said on Thursday that he accepted the explanation of a Rick Perry adviser who denied charges from the Cain camp that he leaked allegations of sexual harassment by Cain to the media.

"Until we get all the facts, I'm just gonna say that we accept what Mr. Anderson has said and we want to move on with the campaign," top Cain campaign adviser Mark Block said in a Fox News interview.

Block did not, however, fully withdraw his accusation against Perry adviser Curt Anderson.

"I'm going to do the same thing Anderson has done: move on, talk about issues and get off of this 'silliness,' as he called it, and let's get on with the campaign," Block said.

But Block immediately added, "I will stand behind what we said yesterday," referring to accusations against Anderson first made by Cain himself and then by Block himself. Block added that he was "thrilled that Mr. Anderson said that it didn't come from him."

Anderson, who worked on Herman Cain's unsuccessful 2004 Senate run, said on Thursday morning that he could not have been the source of the leak because he did not know about the allegations against the candidate.

Cain signaled on Thursday that the controversy "will not deter" him in his pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination. The AP reports that a spokesman for the GOP hopeful indicated that Cain's campaign has taken in more than $1 million since the sexual harassment allegations came to light.

Comments

[Danilo-11]

06:34 PM on 11/09/2011

Free publicity for Flavor Flav. With all the media coverage, anybody would think that he hold a position in the government.

[lblackw105]

10:24 AM on 11/07/2011

Wow, Mr. Cain really knows how to keep this issue alive ! Bring it into open court an open a second media front.

[NEWSWOMAN]

09:11 AM on 11/07/2011

No way! He doesn't want the truth to come out!

[donkanard]

10:52 PM on 11/06/2011

When and how many smarmy sleazy occurrances have to come to light before anyone takes it seriousely? When an executive hits on a new employee there's a message that if you don't comply with my crude advances you won't get promoted or maybe if you will there'll be rewards.
It's different when the executive is persued.

[zolinaj]

06:46 AM on 11/06/2011

I used to say that "I LOVE YOU" to my co-worker,now i feel very unconfortable to tell her that "I LOVE HER".
Are there any other words that i can use to make her feel good about herself?

[zolinaj]

06:34 AM on 11/06/2011

Can i say that "I LOVE YOU" to a co-worker?

My boss tells me that " SHE LOVES ME ",all the time.
Is that sexual harassment?

[GustavoRejivik]

01:46 AM on 11/06/2011

Amazing the benefit of the doubt given to Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, A. Weiner, and Elliot Spitzer .. yet here Cain is being thrown under the bus for far, far less than any of these Democrats did.

.. and on top of that, we have no names, no documents, no details, no facts ..

[NEWSWOMAN]

09:13 AM on 11/07/2011

Clinton, Weiner and Spitzer suffered for their behavior. Clinton recovered, but the others lost their positions. Now let's see what happens to Cain.

[lblackw105]

09:36 AM on 11/07/2011

These people you mentioned (in order) : impeached, vilified in the press for 30 years, resigned, and...resigned, any questions?

[liaisonsus]

10:14 PM on 11/05/2011

He is on denial drugs!

[danceswithdata]

02:38 PM on 11/05/2011

Gee, all you ladies out there, don't you wish YOU were Gloria Cain? It's unimaginable that anyone could marry a slug like Cain for anything other than his money. And as far as a "debate" between Cain and Newt, how about Dirt Bag Supreme against Satanic Egg Sucker! Talk about marriages made in hell...It will be interesting to see who Romney's running mate is going to be - we all know that it's pre-ordained by the GOP who their one and only candidate could possibly be. All the rest is fluff to attract a ravenous press.

[craiglll]

05:45 PM on 11/05/2011

He wasn't very wealthy when they married but I do agree that he would be a hard person to put up with.

[GustavoRejivik]

01:28 AM on 11/06/2011

Exactly what did Cain do?

All we have are unnamed sources, no documents, and no details of exactly what happened. are you willing to cast judgement based on NOTHING?? Just for pure politics or is it Racism as well??

With Clinton, Weiner, Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd, and Elliot Spitzer we had the evidence first .. yet still the Media tried to cover it up, the Progressive Media with its double standards... here with Cain they start with nothing.

[delightman88]

01:56 PM on 11/05/2011

Empty threats. Cain's mishandling of the tirade has backfired and he now finds himself on the ropes, whether he's willing to admit it or not. It's Robert Bork all over again, and even Republicans aren't going to be fooled by his malarkey.

[GustavoRejivik]

01:33 AM on 11/06/2011

How did he mishandle this?? By telling the Truth? By not covering it up, trashing the women, hours of Strategy sessions trying to formulate diversions, lies and plans?

It's equal to Bork but this time we have Racism involved as well as Politics from Progressives .. hardly "progressive" to make judgements before we know anything now isn't it??

[most reasonable]

02:42 PM on 11/12/2011

"How did he (Cain) mishandle this?? By telling the Truth? "

When did that happen? When he admitted that the subject had been openly discussed with his campaign advisors in his Senate bid or this year when he claimed that he knew nothing about the pay-offs?

[dwillisno1]

01:28 PM on 11/05/2011

Many harassers especially those who are in high places, just plain never think anything they say or do is harassment. Their view of women, or perhaps their view of themselves, precludes them from seeing their own behavior as inappropriate. In essence people are suppose to understand that "its just the way I am" and I don't mean what people think I mean. They also believe that everyone else likes them, and couldn't possibly misunderstand their motives. One other factor, their behavior often works with some women and makes them think its ok.

[dwillisno1]

12:47 PM on 11/05/2011

Part 2
6 Most important of all is the general public perception ranging from over the top false feminism down to reactionary false PCism. All of this is obvious in the public and political reactions all over the press and cable tv to this incident. All of which too often leaves us with insufficient evidence because victims are reluctant to undergo the awful stuff that we have witnessed this past week. For what its worth, if Herman Cain and the NRA handled the original cases the way he has handled the current revelations, he very much makes himself look guilty.

[dwillisno1]

12:47 PM on 11/05/2011

Some assume all such allegations are true, some that all are false. This says more about those who hold those positions than about harassment itself. I have observed a few things. 1 Harassment claims are often the ammunition for other battles, employees disgruntled for other reasons. The facts of the harassment usually are true, but would ordinarily not produce a claim if not for the other issues. 2 Most of the time the truth lies somewhere between what the perpetrator says and what the plaintiff says. 3 Most corporations and large employers have extensive training programs for their employees and particularly for their management people to make them aware of the law and the standards and definitions for overt and covert harassment. 4 Many times the issue is also related to the corporation culture. I hesitate to say it, but many times subtle harassment is a part of the routine. This is especially true of corporations run by conservative business leaders. 5 Often the biggest difficulty for claimants is dealing with other women who often think that women who claim to be harassed are women who have tried to use sex to get their way or are rejected by male coworkers or supervisors.

[delightman88]

02:15 PM on 11/05/2011

News flash. We aren't talking about a middle manager, nothing to lose MBA graduate. This man was head of a multi-national corporation, and is now a candidate for president. Instead of taking a page from Bill Clinton's favorite quotes and saying, "I did not make sexual overtures to that woman," his stock answer is "I don't recall what happened", or "I really don't remember". He made these fuzzy disclaimers repeatedly in several FOX news interviews, and since he hasn't come right out and denied the allegations, there is reason to suspect his behaviour. All the sensitivity training in the world doesn't address the fact that Cain was not a manager, he was CEO. After all, who's going to fire the boss?

[smcircle]

03:05 PM on 11/05/2011

There is the Board Of Directors who can fire "the boss" but it would have to be more criminal to them. I can't say what has happened but there is so much smoke and to not remember what 4 women are saying concerns me because I am not sure I want a President who has a faulty memory. We had a dummy and problem causer just before Obama. Of course there are many other reason I do not want a TPer...

[dwillisno1]

03:40 PM on 11/05/2011

I agree, my point about the Training was to point out that in most big companies, the training is extensive, and all including the CEO know the rules, and if they break them it is because they know they are breaking them and think either they apply to everybody else, or that they are so charming and sexy, that the ladies will welcome their clumsy fumbling rude crude conduct.

[kburgoyne]

12:11 PM on 11/05/2011

That's certainly typical GOP logic. Shoot the messenger.

[sailcatter]

08:21 AM on 11/05/2011

We all know instances of unfounded harassment, discrimination, etc accusations that are completely unfounded. It's almost impossible to have a lot of coworkers or work with the public and not get accused of something by someone. Sometimes it's someone who is just way too sensitive or takes an innocent remark the wrong way. Sometimes it's someone looking for a payout. But, unless we are all willing to become automatons, with no humor, no human interaction in the workplace, we have to develop a bit of common sense about these accusations.

[Kim Hayes]

09:30 AM on 11/05/2011

More often than not the allegations are true. Many more women do not report sexual harrassment because of the hostility they recieve from male peers. As a woman who has been a part of the workforce for 35 yrs it goes on all the time. When it comes from the head of the company it is very intimidating to come forward because of the repercussions. We don't know if Cain is guilty, but his handling of the story when he had 10 days advanced noticed is dismal. Conservatives blaming women and eluding to mostly false accusations is just what I have come to expect. Lets all go back to colonial days when women didn't vote and if they recieved a little unwanted attention they knew to shut up about it!

[smcircle]

03:18 PM on 11/05/2011

I am so torn with "Innocent until..." but with 4 women I have to wonder. I know it can be very intimidating to come forward especially if one has to have the job to support the family or even just him/herself. I remember at my last job I reported something I strongly felt was unethical to an ethics manager and nothing came of it. I wonder if he was told to"back off" especially since it was a corporate policy that was totally un-findable within the corporate policies on those matters. Had to be plausible deniablity especially since it was so often enforced. Corporations will defend the top at all cost until they no longer can...

[Shifu]

01:30 PM on 11/05/2011

45,000$