Posted on 02/05/2010 10:36:56 AM PST by Chi-townChief
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin this morning joined the chorus of voices calling for Scott Lee Cohen to step aside, even as the embattled Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor gave no indication he plans to do so.
“He really should spare himself, and his friends and family what he’s about to go through,” Durbin said this morning in Evanston, speaking to WBBM-AM (780). “I’m afraid the disclosures so far really disqualify him.”
On Thursday, Gov. Quinn called for Cohen to step down if he couldn’t adequately explain an October 2005 domestic-battery arrest.
also allegedly abused anabolic steroids, displayed fits of rage and forced himself sexually on his wife before their divorce, court documents reviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
Cohen also allegedly skipped child-support payments at the same time he was investing his own money — a total of more than $2 million — in his
successful bid to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. His ex-wife, Debra York-Cohen, alleged just two months ago that he owed her nine months worth of back child support totaling $54,000 for their four children.
York-Cohen described life with the millionaire pawnbroker as “pretty unbearable” and said she lived “in constant fear of him,” according to a May 2005 order of protection she filed in the divorce case.
“Over the past year, my husband has been taking injectable anabolic steroids. And as a result, he has an erratic, explosive temper,” York-Cohen explained in seeking the protection order. She also said Cohen tried to force her to have sex with him.
Despite their bitter divorce battle, Cohen and his ex-wife were doing joint media interviews Thursday — the same day Quinn said Cohen “should step aside” if Cohen can’t adequately explain the circumstances surrounding an October 2005 domestic-battery arrest that the Sun-Times revealed new details about Tuesday night.
In that case, a prostitute with whom Cohen was living alleged he held a knife to her throat. She showed police minor scars on her neck and hands.
The charge was dropped when the woman failed to show up in court.
Cohen said Thursday he never laid a hand on anyone, has no plans to step down and intends to ride out the storm of questions about the arrest.
He said his former live-in girlfriend called police in retaliation for him having her arrested on a property-damage charge for destroying his apartment months earlier.
“I never knew her as a prostitute. She was a massage therapist,” Cohen said on WTTW-Channel 11’s “Chicago Tonight.” “She may have had marks, but if
there were, they were done by her. And if we can find her, we will have her [explain that].”
The allegations about Cohen prompted the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault to say it is “beyond unsettling to think a person who reportedly held a knife to a woman’s throat could be responsible for helping determine
public policy that impacts the safety of women and children.”
Cohen, 44, also admitted he took steroids in 2005. He skipped a court-ordered drug test in the initial months of the divorce case, court records show.
“It was a bad time in my life. I was trying to put muscle on,” he said.
As for the recent child-support allegation, Cohen and his ex-wife told the Sun-Times they couldn’t discuss the matter in detail because it is pending.
Cohen, however, described it as “a misunderstanding” and insisted he is not a “deadbeat dad.”
York-Cohen said she stands by the allegations she made in 2005. Among them was that on “May 9, 2005, after having confessed to several affairs he had,
[Cohen] tried to have sex with me, and despite my refusals, he tried to force himself on me until I pushed him away and emphatically told him ‘no,’ ” according to a court exhibit.
“It was a period in his life where he was going through a very difficult time. That time has passed,” York-Cohen told the Sun-Times. Her ex-husband
is “not that person today and hasn’t been for quite some time.”
Kasandra Malone, who was charged with prostitution in the same sting that led to Cohen’s girlfriend’s arrest, said Cohen was a “really nice guy.”
Malone said she worked with Cohen’s girlfriend at the massage parlor and was friends with her.
“If he ever hurt her, she didn’t tell me about it,” she said.
“In fact, he was the reason she quit the job, so he must have been a nice guy.”
Malone said she and Cohen’s girlfriend were not prostitutes but were “set up” by police.
A political newcomer, Cohen shocked Democrats with his primary victory Tuesday against five other candidates, four of them state legislators. But he also got help from some veteran politicians. Ald. Dick Mell (33rd) and
Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th) urged voters to support him on their Web sites.
Quinn said he met Thursday morning with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan — the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party — and they talked about the
Cohen problem. Quinn declined to say whether he or Madigan has any plan in mind if Cohen doesn’t step aside.
“Let’s take a look at how the situation evolves,” the governor said.
He said Cohen must answer questions from the public, and if he can’t answer them, “to step aside.”
Asked if he would consider running as a third-party or independent candidate if Cohen will not pull out, Quinn repeated that he thought “the situation will resolve itself.”
Quinn said he never saw Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown’s March 17, 2009, column in which Cohen’s arrest was first reported. Quinn said he only became aware of Cohen’s past Tuesday, even though some of Cohen’s rivals said they tried to warn Quinn’s campaign about Cohen.
State Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills) said he and other candidates running against Cohen tried to alert the Quinn and Dan Hynes campaigns a month
before the election to the prospect of a Cohen victory. A Link emissary talked to Quinn’s campaign manager about Brown’s column revealing that Cohen was a pawn broker with a domestic battery arrest.
At that point, Cohen had not divulged details about the knife and the prostitute/former girlfriend. Some of the information was never relayed to Quinn, campaign aides said.
Cohen insisted he has been honest with voters. “I will not resign. I will not step down,” he said. However, “if the people of Illinois decided they don’t want me as their lieutenant governor, I would consider it at that point. Time will tell.”
Contributing: Steve Contorno and Frank Main
Durbin has the perfect first name for himself.
PING
I wonder why they are protesting him...he seems to sure fit right in with all the rest of the corrupt criminals in our government.
I CALL FOR THIS DICK TO STEP ASIDE.
What a hypocrite Durbin is.
If he doesn’t step aside, he’ll be wearing some union goon’s fedora VERY soon.
Mr. Cohen could certainly fill the large shoes of John Edwards.
LOL. Me too!
What’s their prob?....Looks like the ideal Illinois Dem candidate to me...........
He’s a maverick! The accepted path is elected office THEN criminal. Not the other way around.
I seriesly doubt Edwards has “Large Shoes”................;^)
Translation. What's come out so far reveals a culture of corruption in the Democrat party. Let's drop this whole matter before other people are implicated...
TURBIN DURBIN!! Lover of all Muslim terrorists and Jihadists!! When TURBIN “DICK” DURBIN calles for Another RAT to step down because of Dispicable Personal Behavior,
One is witnessing one of the Human Race’s Lowest Moral Life Forms calling out another Fellow Dispicable RAT!! It just doesn’t get any more Ludicrous than THAT!
Durbin has gthe wrong strategy..what he should say is that Cohen is obviousl insane, why in the world would anyone spend $ 2 mill of his OWN $$$ to be the Lt. Gov of Ill?
We need a poster...side by side..GOP Scott vs. Dem Scott
Well, he has big hair!
McKenna spent about $2 million, of his money, on his campaign.
This is exciting IL news. The people there are more clueless than their MA cousins.
You First!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.