Posted on 10/02/2003 5:44:45 AM PDT by foolscap
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six women who met Arnold Schwarzenegger on movie sets and other places over the last three decades say he groped them, the Los Angeles Times said on Thursday. In interviews with the Times, three of the women described their surprise and discomfort when Schwarzenegger grabbed their breasts. A fourth said he reached under her skirt and gripped her buttocks.
A fifth woman said Schwarzenegger groped her and tried to remove her bathing suit in a hotel elevator, while a sixth said Schwarzenegger pulled her onto his lap and asked whether a certain sexual act had ever been performed on her.
Schwarzenegger is the leading Republican candidate in California's recall election for governor.
"Did he rape me? No," said one woman, who described a 1980 encounter in which she said Schwarzenegger touched her breast. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."
According to the newspaper, none of the women who discussed their encounters with the former body builder said they filed any legal action against him.
Schwarzenegger's campaign spokesman, Sean Walsh, said the candidate has not engaged in improper conduct toward women, and that such allegations are part of an escalating political attack on Schwarzenegger as the recall election approaches.
"We believe Democrats and others are using this to try to hurt Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign," Walsh said. "We believe that this is coming so close before the election, something that discourages good, hard-working, decent people from running for office."
The Times did not learn of any of the six women from Schwarzenegger's rivals in the recall race, and none of the women approached the newspaper on her own. Reporters contacted them in the course of a six-week examination of Schwarzenegger's behavior toward women on and off the movie set.
The Times said Schwarzenegger's attitudes about women have been an issue during the campaign, with critics accusing him of being misogynistic, based on past statements he has made to various publications.
Schwarzenegger has said he respects women and that many of his comments were made in jest or simply meant to be provocative.
This story, released in time to hit the Thursday news wires just before an election, has Chris Lehane's fingerprints all over it. Lehane is the Democrats' dirty tricks specialist who engineered the DWI hit on Bush on the Thursday before Election 2000 and who was just fired by presidential hopeful John Kerry.
EEEEwwww. That is just gross.
You never touched a woman inappropriately and you are an army veteran. Wow. How did you manage that ? You must have been committed to chastity at quite an early age. More power and honor to you.
McClintock is the better man....imo, since I'm a conservative.
I agree.
I am pragmatic enough to realize that McClintock and/or Schwarz needs to make a last minute announcement releasing their supporters.
It's too late. Not enough supporters would listen now. They are both better off staying in so Davis goes out and we can only pray one of them wins instead of Cruz. It was a reckless gamble and we will reap the consequences.
However, they play dirty pool in politics. Proof of these allegations will shortly be forthcoming. [How would youi know that ?] If Schwarz gets shot dead in the next 48 hours, he needs to fall on his sword. If the proof isn't forthcoming, then Mac needs to fall on his. [It's too late, this is a benefit for Davis (or maybe Bustamante)] Remember.....multiple women willing to make an accusation in public (not just in print) IS considered to warrant investigation of a pattern of misbehavior.
I agree. Put them and him under oath. It should have happened before though and not days before an election. It is a political hit and does not seem credible. It is typical of Gray Davis and so one must remain skeptical in the absense of credible allegations. We shall see if there is any substance forthcoming.
I think some % of McClintock supporters would then move over to Schwarz and that would seal his strength.
Schwarz, on the other hand, has a large base of supporters that I'm not sure would switch over to Mac because I think they're not traditionally republicans, and certainly not conservatives.
He would have to quit the race, and even then I'm not sure it would send those supporters over to Mac.
It is obviously a political attack on behalf of Gray Davis. Even Sen. Feinstein knew this would happen and she still supported Gray Davis.
Definitely this is NOT NEW news. This is one of the reasons that the conservative Republicans have been backing away from Arnold.He DOES have some striking similarities to Clinton. Depends on which side of the fence you want to throw the mud.Remember, what is good for the goose is good for the gander too.Wondering how the Arnold supporters would react if someone comes up with a " Monica dress".
I will say this in Arnold's defense, we need to be innocent until proven guilty, so we will wait this out.Voting for Tom no matter what though!
Just like the most ardent Clinton supporters did, no doubt.
I have been educated in real-life politics lately with this California recall and have discovered that the only real difference between the two political parties for many people is the letter D and the letter R beside the candidates name.
Its all about raw political power, every thought, standard, moral way of life and even religion is sacrificed on the alter of political power.
I always knew this about the demoRat party but it is a real eye-opener to see republicans doing the same thing.
This has always baffled me, but I've come to the conclusion that the Left thinks the Right are a bunch of 'fanatic, judgmental puritans', therefore when someone they consider Conservative commits a sin, especially of the flesh, then that makes us all hypocrits. This is of course a stupid, throw all Conservatives in one-pot opinion. It's pure ignorance and a lack of knowledge about the Conservative movement.
I bet. From what we see of most Hollywood women, they would not only be groped but they would gladly sleep their way to the top. They'll strip down to nothing, perform in explicit sex acts on screen just to get a role in a movie.
And when it comes to the marxist liberal hollywood types who adore Davis ---- having names, facts, and evidence will not harm Arnold much. Groping is the most these democrats are coming with?
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