Previous threads:
Sherwood denies choking woman (US Rep from PA)
Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report (Congressman,back rub,911)
Posted on 05/08/2005 3:21:44 AM PDT by Born Conservative
“We went to movies, dinners. He is very charming, very gentleman. The wine and roses – that got me. I’m not someone to sleep around. With Don, it was exclusive.” Cynthia Ore On her relationship with Don Sherwood
WASHINGTON – Even though she says she is considering taking legal action against Don Sherwood, Cynthia Ore still glows when asked about her relationship with the congressman.
“We had such a good chemistry,” said Ore, of Rockville, Md. “I miss the touchiness and the passion.”
Ore said she was attracted to Sherwood’s unassuming appearance when she first met the Tunkhannock Republican at a Young Republicans meeting in 1999. “I saw Don as a small-town all-American,” Ore said, smiling. “He has that pink, rosy skin. When I first met him he had those big glasses.”
Growing up in Peru, then moving to the D.C. area as a teen, Ore said she has met few “small-town” people. “Guys in D.C. are players,” said Ore, who speaks with a slight Spanish accent. “Guys in D.C. try to be so suave. They drive Bentleys and Ferraris. Don has a truck.”
Sherwood is a 64-year-old married man with daughters approximately the age of Ore, and has campaigned on family values.
Ore, 29, said he wore a college ring instead of his wedding ring when she first met him. Ore said dating someone much older or younger is not a big deal in her culture.
“We went to movies, dinners,” Ore said. “He is very charming, very gentleman. The wine and roses – that got me. I’m not someone to sleep around. With Don, it was exclusive.”
What happened?
The relationship went sour on Sept. 15 when Ore called 911 to report the congressman had choked her. What happened in the congressman’s D Street apartment that night is a mystery to everyone but Ore and Sherwood, who have two different accounts. Even officers with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, which responded to the incident, say they don’t know the full story.
“Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened,” the police incident report states, noting that Ore “did not seem to be of sound mind.”
The report states that Ore told police she locked herself in a bathroom and called 911 after Sherwood “choked her for no apparent reason” while giving her a backrub in his D Street apartment. Sherwood told police he was giving Ore a backrub when she “jumped up” and ran to the bathroom, the report stated.
After investigating the scene, police decided there was no evidence that Sherwood had choked Ore. “Based on interviews with both parties and no physical evidence of injury to (Ore), there was no probable cause to make an arrest or reasonable cause to believe (Ore) was assaulted,” the report stated.
Police said Ore initially said she was choked, then withdrew her statement, saying “nothing happened.” Ore admits she was distraught, but denied recanting her story at any time. She was not charged with making false reports or any other crime.
Ore said police have refused to give her the 911 tape during their response to the Sept. 15 incident. She also said police seemed more interested in protecting Sherwood. She assumes they knew upon arrival to the apartment that he was a congressman because his apartment complex is home to many important officials.
The Times Leader also was denied a copy of the tape. Police officials say tapes are not public records and can not be released without a court order or subpoena.
Adding to the mystery, Ore contends she was given a different incident report number than the one that appears on the Sept. 15 report that police copied at the request of the Times Leader. She says the report appears altered. An area where police note numbers does show unclear lines and smudges. A spokesman for the police department says there is no report corresponding to the incident number Ore provided to the Times Leader.
During a four-hour interview last week, Ore repeated her claim that Sherwood choked her, and she said she hired a Rockville, Md., law firm to help her get a tape of the 911 call she made and photographs she says were taken at a hospital that show bruises on her neck.
The law firm has confirmed it has been hired by Ore, but would not discuss its plans.
Sherwood’s side
Sherwood has denied choking Ore, whom he has referred to as “a casual acquaintance.” Asked how long he knew her, he said he couldn’t recall.
In an obscure statement, he also claimed he hadn’t called her to the apartment the day of the incident. He wouldn’t elaborate.
On Tuesday, Sherwood issued an apology “for the pain and embarrassment I have caused my family and my supporters,” but he hasn’t discussed the incident in detail.
Sherwood has not returned several phone calls seeking comment since April 29, when he tried to convince a Times Leader editor not to publish a story on Ore’s contentions. Sherwood’s Tuesday statement came via fax. A visit was made to his Washington office on Friday, but workers said he was returning home to Pennsylvania.
Possible influence?
Ore said she was saddened by the “acquaintance” comment. “He always said you’re my No. 1,” Ore said. “He got on his knees many times just to kiss my hand. He called me his angel.”
Ore said Sherwood looked out for her professionally too. She said he helped her get an internship with Pennsylvania Congressman Bill Shuster, whose congressional office is on the same floor as Sherwood’s in the Longworth Building in Washington. Tory Mazzola, a spokesman for Shuster, first denied Ore was an intern when contacted on Friday, saying she interviewed for the position, but didn’t get it.
But after being asked to check again, Mazzola said Ore was an intern “several years ago” and said she left after two days. “She decided not to continue,” said Mazzola, who could not confirm or deny that Sherwood helped Ore get the internship.
Mazzola said Ore and all other interns that have worked for Shuster were not paid. Ore said the internship took place in the summer of 2001. She said she left the internship at Sherwood’s insistence. Ore’s name does not show up on payroll disclosure forms submitted in Washington by Sherwood or Shuster going back to 1999.
“When I first told my girlfriends I was dating a politician, they said stay away from him,” Ore said. “I lived such a sheltered life. I never saw the negative. Maybe if I got with someone who I thought was a player, I’d be OK.”
She said Sherwood also tried to get her an internship in the White House.
Ore said she had planned on putting the Sept. 15 incident behind her even though she feels like she has been wronged, but friends and family members who recently found out about the incident urged her to take legal action.
The Times Leader learned of the incident after part of the police report was faxed to the paper by Veronica Hannevig of Simpson. She ran against Sherwood in the November 2004 election in the 10th Congressional District.
Hannevig, of the Constitution Party, said someone from Washington mailed her the first page of the incident report on April 25 in an envelope with no return address. Sherwood called it a political smear.
About Cynthia
Ore was initially hesitant to talk with a reporter when contacted but opened up over several conversations.
While taking with a reporter, Ore often appeared to search to find the right word to say in English when responding to questions. She said she didn’t learn the language until she came to the United States as a teenager. She said she learned French in her all-girl school in Peru, but had to learn English on her own.
“I couldn’t say anything. ‘Hi’ or anything,” she said.
Ore says she belongs to a wealthy family that owns Spanish supermarkets and restaurants. She lives in a huge luxury apartment complex in Rockville that has underground parking for residents and fireside lounges on the first floor. She owns a Porsche.
She said she is taking business classes at Johns Hopkins University and hopes to open her own restaurant someday. “My dream is to own my own restaurant without my parents’ name.”
She said her parents own two homes in Gaithersburg, Md. – her younger brother lives in one -- and two in Peru. They were building a home for her nephew, a professional tennis player, on the night of the incident, she said.
“Don knew they were away,” she said.
Ore said her parents knew about her relationship with Sherwood, but were unaware of the 911 call until recently. Ore said now that her parents know she could never get back with Sherwood.
She said the congressman contacted her on Valentine’s Day. “He said to keep quiet and don’t talk to police” about the Sept. 15 incident.
Ore also contends Sherwood sent her flowers for the holiday. In his April 29 interview with the Times Leader, Sherwood denied that.
Ore would not say if she’s spoken with him since Valentine’s Day.
Sherwood has said he ran into Ore “on the street” once after the incident, but it was not a planned meeting.
Previous threads:
Sherwood denies choking woman (US Rep from PA)
Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report (Congressman,back rub,911)
She looks like a damn HOOKER......whats wrong with this guy
Apparently she had some of her clothes in his apartment, but Ore looks like a crude gold digger trying to dress like a little Shirley Temple.
Paris Hilton?
I don't know jack about Sherwood, but writing "[He] has campaigned on family values" is meaningless, because there isn't a straight, married politician that doesn't.
This aspect of the story reminds me of the election that brought Barbara Boxer to the Senate. She was running against conservative talk host and writer Bruce Herschensohn, and after he started to widen a lead over Boxer, the infamous CaliDemo attack dog Bob Mulholland picketed a Herschensohn appearance, alleging that the GOP candidate had been seen in a topless bar and an adult bookstore. Herschensohn admitted to attending an adult nightclub with a female companion briefly, but the media played it up like he had a reputation as Mister Rogers beforehand. He didn't. But the ploy worked, Boxer was elected, and you know the rest.
What happened to Mulholland? The California Democratic honchos feigned shock at such a cheap, tawdry tactic being used in an election. They suspended Mulholland...for a month. The man heading up the Democratic campaign in California that year was Phil Angelides, who has just announced he will run for governor.
Always pay beforehand: discussing price during relationships like always leads to problems.
Get rid of him. His district, I believe is GOP enough for a good, clean guy to hold on to it. We don't need a sleazy jerk (like the mayor of Spokane) holding down our party. We got rid of Gingrich and Livingston, too. Get rid of this guy as he seems to be living in Sherwood Forest in his brain.
Sounds like this guy was going through a crisis, ran into someone who made him feel sort of special, and he was hooked for a while. One day he woke up and realized the insanity of it all. When he let her know, she was ditraught, couldn't believe she was losing him, but realized she was holding some aces!
These guys need to have continual classes on keeping their lives in order...but then, the whole push of the left is to tear down all morals pillars of our society. But even though they really don't disagree with what he's doing, they'll use it for political fodder!
Sherwood got snookered by a tart. Nothing new under the sun.
With the DemonRATS.....Chandra Levy....
When you are 64 and something like this comes along and stirs old half-forgotten urgings its hard to turn down.
I know I havent seen a womans body without cellulite for a long time.
But sometimes you have to think with the big head and not the little one. Any woman 29 isnt interested in a 64 year old man because he gives good backrub.
Then again one of the rules of turning 60 is "Never waste an erection."
This year Clearwater beach had the best scenery in my opinion. The little chirpies were all smiles and cleavage, both top and bottom cleavage. It sure makes for a scenic day. HA HA HA
One reason MurryMom doesn't show up at YR meetings is to avoid having 64 year old Republican Congressmen put their moves on me. Besides, I'm not the pickup truck type, as Ms. Ore appears to be.
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