Cain: Wife didn't know about friendship, ‘financial assistance' to Ginger White

Union-Leader ^ | 12-1-2011 | John DiStaso

[smoothsailing]

Cain: Wife didn't know about friendship, ‘financial assistance' to Ginger White

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is questioned by New Hampshire Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid in Manchester Thursday. David Lane

MANCHESTER - In his most candid interview since the latest allegations emerged, Herman Cain adamantly maintains that he and Ginger White were no more than friends. He told the New Hampshire Union Leader that in about 70 text messages she sent him between Oct. 22 and Nov. 18, she was "asking for financial assistance. She was out of work and had trouble paying her bills and I had known her as a friend."
By JOHN DiSTASO
Senior Political Reporter
MANCHESTER - Herman Cain acknowledged Thursday that he repeatedly gave Ginger White money to help her with "month-to-month bills and expenses" without telling his wife.

In fact, the embattled presidential candidate said, his wife, Gloria, "did not know that we were friends until she (White) came out with this story."

In his most candid interview since the latest allegations emerged, Cain adamantly maintained that he and White were no more than friends.

He told the New Hampshire Union Leader that in about 70 text messages she sent him between Oct. 22 and Nov. 18, she was "asking for financial assistance. She was out of work and had trouble paying her bills and I had known her as a friend.

"She wasn't the only friend who I had helped in these tough economic times, and so her messages to me were relating to ‘need money for rent' or whatever the case may be. I don't remember all the specifics."

Cain said White, who has alleged that she and Cain had a 13-year extramarital affair, told him that she did not have a job and was unable to get financial help from her family, "and that quite frankly, I was the only person who was a friend at the time - and I underscore ‘friend' - that was in a position to help her.


"I'm a soft-hearted person when it comes to that stuff. I have helped members of my church. I have helped members of my family.


"And I know a lot of other people who had done the same thing, and sometimes, quite frankly, it was desperation," Cain said.


Cain said that in 17 reported text messages back to her, he would respond with messages such as, "What are you doing to get a job?"


Cain said he did give Ginger White money, although he would not say how much on the advice of counsel.


And, he acknowledged, "My wife did not know about it, and that was the revelation. My wife found out about it when she went public with it.


"My wife now knows," Cain said. "My wife and I have talked about it and I have explained it to her. My wife understands that I'm a soft-hearted giving person."


He said his wife "is comfortable with the explanation that I told her."


He said he told his wife about White only after White went public.


Cain said that in retrospect he should have told his wife about his friendship with White, "but retrospect doesn't necessarily change what's going on now."


He also said his wife "did not know we were friends until she (White) came out with this story."


He said White did not threaten to go public with the allegation of an affair if Cain did not give her money, "nor was there any indication that there might be blackmail or anything like that.


"I thought I was helping a friend, end of story," he said.


Cain said the two "struck up a friendship" many years ago when she attended a conference in Louisville, Ky., where he was the keynote speaker.


Cain said he does not know why White has gone public with the allegation.


"But I have very strong speculation that someone offered her a lot of money," Cain said. "I was helping her with month-to-month bills and expenses and somebody _ this is speculation only _ offered her a lot of money.


"And one of my objectives is to clear my name and my reputation," Cain said.


(This story will be updated throughout the evening.)

[Engedi]

i just read thru Greta’s interview. Mrs. Cain brings up the first two ladies but then she mentions his assistant at the NRA and how she was a minister and they would get into scripture discussions.

Not seeing where Ms. White is this person. Ms. White is not an ordained minister. He said he met White at a conference.

[MHGinTN]

You fabricate a sleazy scene to bear false witness against Newt Gingrich, then pretend you don't understand the phrase. Agenda? ... You really do believe you can do this without being exposed, don'tcha. Your stealthy invitation to the DNC/Romney circular firing squad nets you your sign:

Here's your sign, agitprop

[MHGinTN]

Thanks, the interview was not my focus of attention at the time it aired.

[org.whodat]

BULL, you have three conservatives running, Cain, Bachmann, Santorum, either one can beat obummer and neither is a garbage bag like newt. Pick one or vote rino.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

I've known about Newt since the early 90’s and I will vote for him if he wins the nomination; I had stated that before. He is a very bright guy and a very competent debater. That said, Newt has a lot more character/trust issues than Herman. In my opinion, Gingrich's immigration plan is weasel worded ...as described by Newt it will never stand the first court challenge. I can't even imagine the bureaucracy necessary to form the local review boards or whatever he calls the mechanism required to determine who will get to stay and who will not.

I guess my position is that at present I haven't found anyone I feel confident about supporting; but, I will pledge to vote for anyone who gets the nomination except Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman or Mitt Romney. I reserve judgment on those 3; as it is impossible to predict now what the situation will be by the time of the election. If I have to I will vote for whomever it takes to beat Obama ...but I won't feel good about it.

Regards,

-Geoff

[BagCamAddict]

THANK YOU.

Finally, someone on here posts about something called TRUST in a relationship.

Good grief, if my spouse wanted to know every detail of my business, and who I talk to, and who I give money to, then I have a problem with my SPOUSE and a lack of TRUST in my marriage.

All of you people who think Cain should disclose every conversation or everything he does with every dime of his money... Sheesh.

Has his family ever gone for want? No. Even if he was giving away $5000 a month to 12 different people, as long as his family's well being is taken care of, why does everyone on this forum care so much?

I do animal rescue work, and if my spouse EVER questions my giving money to any of the charitable cases that I work with, then I have chosen the wrong spouse.

Mrs. Cain knows who she is married to. After they talk this weekend, we will know what the future holds for this election, and for our Country. Cain has said that if Mrs. Cain asks him to drop out, he will. If she is behind him, then he will stay in.

Sadly, all that does is tell his enemies how to get him to drop out — by hurting MRS. CAIN emotionally. And the sick bastards will do just that.

[smoothsailing]

Did Herman Cain commit a crime? I'm not talking about poor judgement. I'm talking about a crime.

Define crime.

[cricket]

Only if crime is a 'bad judgment'. Wondering if HC will be a single man; this time next year. Am thinking 'probably not'; but who knows. . .

All to say; will Herman's 'sounds of silence' be the end of him? He had to be dreading this trip home. . .

[jcsjcm]

writer33
;)

BagCamAddict
Exactly - very well spoken!

[jessduntno]

“Moral of the story - it happens when you think you are doing the right thing and possibly your partner may not think the same.”

...well, and don’t keep doing it for thirteen years...

[EDINVA]

Your supposition seems to be that there was a continuing, “relationship” for 13 years. Its actual nature is unknown. She says it involved cross-country trips, attending events and trysts. He has denied that, but hasn’t yet defined what the nature of the relationship was, the frequency of visits/calls/txts, much less who initiated them.

It could be, for all we know, that she called him every few months, or a couple of times a year, when her back was against the wall, and that it was she who initiated the calls, not he. We don’t know any of that.

Did she call him frequently while he was battling cancer? Did he call her while he was hospitalized? Were his late night calls returning hers that were made while he was at an event when his cell was turned off? I sure don’t know.

I’d be surprised if my husband had an ongoing 13 year relationship, however platonic, and had never mentioned the woman’s name. That would raise flags, especially in my case, since I have worked side by side with him for 30+ years. However, it shouldn’t surprise that a high-power executive and public speaker knows lots of people all over the country whose names never came up in discussions with his wife. I read last night (true or not) that White’s alleged female partner of the same 13 year period claims she never once heard her mention Cain’s name. White’s mother said she’s a pathological liar; her former husband said it could be true or it could be a lie, that with her it’s hard to tell.

So the entire situation is very much a puzzle. For now, I’ll take Cain’s word over White’s. Cain is not my preferred candidate, but I empathize with anyone whose reputation is being torn to tatters by allegations that to date have shown no substance. Think Ray Donovan.

[jessduntno]

“I empathize with anyone whose reputation is being torn to tatters by allegations that to date have shown no substance. Think Ray Donovan.”

Or Ms. White.

[Praxeologue]

My sense is that this was blackmail over the past six weeks and that there was some kind of relationship, probably a decade ago, that gave Ms. Wilson the incentive to blackmail. There is no evidence of a regular relationship, or regular payments, over thirteen years, except in Ms. Wilson’s allegations. Cain acknowledged payments, but they could have been limited to a decade ago and a month ago. We do not know the depth or duration of the previous, i.e. prior to this October, relationship. For that reason, I cannot assess the propriety of Cain’s non-disclosure to his wife. The onus is now on Cain, however, to complete the picture. If he does not do so in the next forty-eight hours, then, it is over. Until then we, and partricularly the Robespierres on this thread, must suspend judgement.

[potlatch]

[I though in his original statement he said Ms. White was friends with he and his wife...]

I am “positive” that I read that too, but am unable to find the source site. That’s why this story was so astounding to me.

[Gator113]

I have no remarkable disagreement with anything in your post.

I do believe that it’s going to take Newt to win against Romney.... and Newt is our best chance to win against Obama.

When the dust settles, the overriding most important objective is to take out Obama. I’d vote for a jar of peanut butter if I thought that jar was our best weapon to use to get our country back.

Above all else, Obama’s War on America must be stopped. In this, Failure is not an option. Yes FRiend, I think it’s that serious.

Cheers..

Dan

[Nervous Tick]

>> You know, like Christian person would do.

Christian men don’t pay monthly maintenance to a single woman for a decade and hide that fact from their wives.

Who are we kidding here? Cain may be a Christian in name, but he’s clearly a horndog in the BillyJeff Clintoon mold.

Or, put another way: how willfully blind can you be?

[offduty]

At the risk of being flamed....She said she has had an affair with him for 13 years. He says he has known her for that period of time. There are lots of people I have known for extended periods of time that I don’t have constant contact with. I may not see, talk or communicate with them for weeks, months or years. It doesn’t mean I don’t know them.

He says he has “helped her out” financially over that period of time. It doesn’t say he was sending her a check every week or month. No one knows how much financial support was given and over what time frame.

The Fox reporter said there had been 61 phone or text messages in the past couple of months. Lin Wood said there were 17 Cain responses to her communications. Simple math says she phoned, texted, or emailed Cain 44 times and he responded to less than half. Wood also said most of the emails were pleas for financial support.

Since she was embroiled in a lawsuit with her former business partner and was also facing eviction, it is quite plausible the frequency of the emails were in direct proportion to her financial crisis.

If you don’t like Cain, fine. but I see a lot of posters on this thread that are making assumptions without any facts at hand. So for all you experts who are so quick to judge: How much money did Cain give this woman? How many times a month did he see her? How many times a month did he call her?

No one on this thread knows the answer to these questions, because the FACTS have yet to come out. So, why not wait until they do?

If Cain is guilty, the facts will come out and if he decides to leave the race, so be it. But it is the height of hypocrisy to demand Cain leave the race without knowing all the facts, yet support Gingrich who has admitted to having multiple affairs while married; who has changed his position on most conservative positions; who raked in over a million dollars from Freddie and Fannie, but was “only acting as a private citizen”, not a lobbyist.

But then, Newt is the “smartest man in the room.” He’s fooled all of you.

[Nervous Tick]

>> All of you people who think Cain should disclose every conversation or everything he does with every dime of his money... Sheesh.

Yeah? Well, “sheesh” to you Cain cultists who willfully ignore the obvious. Your boy’s a philandering HORN DOG. The evidence comes not just from Gloria Steinem’s client (who I could ignore) but from HERMAN CAIN HIMSELF. Pull your head out of your nether regions and take a breath of fresh air. Your denial is just silly.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

“I’d vote for a jar of peanut butter if I thought that jar was our best weapon to use to get our country back.”

Regretably concur. Right now I am just trying to hold out the slim hope that the friggin’ GOP will at least give me the choice between slick & smooth style and extra chunky.

[devolve]

- As this shoe now drops without the wife knowing about it - many will know ask what else has dropped.....

- "Revising and Extending" his previous words will not cut the mustard with Axelrod & Co. out there.

- At this point we can only assume that ego is keeping this ship from sinking -

- This is not about Cain or Newt - Although they themselves seem to believe it is.

- IKE said that everyone associated with his campaign had to be "clean as a hound's tooth" -

---