Replies

I don’t know. So much of what is known is speculation.

But (and I had to read the d*mn politico story to answer this, which I have been really trying to avoid, thank you), the story sure doesn’t READ like they got the information from the women.

First, they say that “sources” gave them the information. Later, they say they “confirmed the identity of the women”, which would make no sense if the women were the source (they wouldn’t have to confirm them). Of course, they could be trying to cover for one or the other of the women).

Politico later put it this way: “POLITICO learned of the allegations against him, and over the course of several weeks, has put together accounts of what happened by talking to a lengthy roster of former board members, current and past staff and others familiar with the workings of the trade group at the time Cain was there.”

Anybody who knew of the investigation could have leaked the story; once Politico knew what it was asking about, it could have actually learned the rest without talking directly to the women. Or, they could have eventually talked to the women, who may not have given them details, but may have confirmed the story.

Levin tonight was speculating that a confidentiality agreement might itself be confidential — if so, Levin said, Cain could be violating it by talking, and the women would have violated it by confirming it.

Since I’d rather not believe that Cain would violate a confidentiality agreement, at this point I’m assuming that everything Cain has told us is OK to reveal under the confidentiality agreement. That doesn’t mean it would be OK for the women — again, without the actual agreement, we don’t have enough information.

I don’t want to be misunderstood. I have no interest in the charges. It’s too easy to charge harrassment, and any reasonable organization would settle for a few month’s salary to be rid of a complaint. I don’t think the charges are damaging to Cain. I assume he is correct that he didn’t really harrass anyone, and that at best the women misinterpreted what he did (at worst they were just looking for money).

So I pretty much would have been fine with any solid answer from Cain. Especially if he said “I never sexually harassed anyone. I cannot comment on the specific allegations in the Politico piece because they deal with matters which, if accurate, would be covered by non-disclosure.”