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A former USAID worker claims Herman Cain asked her to set up dinner with a woman who attended a speech he gave in 2002, the Washington Examiner is reporting tonight. The worker - 40-year-old Donna Donella, of Arlington - told the paper that the moment came after Cain gave a paid speech in Egypt that year. A woman in the crowd posed a query to Cain during the speech, the Examiner said. Continue Reading Donella told them “And after the seminar was over, Cain came over to me and a colleague and said, ‘Could you put me in touch with...

(CNN) - Republican presidential contender Herman Cain will address the latest sexual harassment allegations against him at a Tuesday afternoon news conference, his campaign announced late Monday.

Bialek currently lives in Mundelein with fiance Mark Harwood. "She's of the same political persuasion as Herman Cain," Harwood said. "There was no money on the table to go and have an interview. This is truly about an American girl who's got a big heart and wants to do the right thing."

*snip* The public record on Bialek begins in 1991 when she filed personal bankruptcy for the first time while living in Des Plaines. Between 1993 and 1996 Bialek worked for four different companies in promotion and marketing positions. In 1996, and part of 1997, Bialek was at the National Restaurant Association. After being let go from that job in mid-1997, she says that she went to Washington, D.C., to meet with Cain, president of the association, because she needed a job. In 1999, Bialek's son Nicholas was born and a paternity lawsuit was filed by the father, a media executive....

Leaving little to the imagination, a Chicago-area woman on Monday accused Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain of making a crude sexual advance more than a decade ago when she was seeking his help finding a job. "Come clean," Sharon Bialek challenged Cain at a news conference in New York at which she described herself as "a face and a voice" to support other accusers who have so far remained anonymous. Cain's campaign swiftly denied Bialek's account. "All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false," it said in a written statement. [snip] Court records indicate Bialek had financial difficulties...

The Herman Cain scandal finally has a name and a face. Superlawyer Gloria Allred introduced her client, Sharon Bialek, at a press conference in New York on Monday afternoon, telling reporters that the woman formerly employed by the National Restaurant Association's educational arm had been subject to an unwanted sexual advance from the Republican presidential candidate. Bialek, a Chicagoan, had raised money for the restaurant association before being terminated in 1997, Allred said. When she lost her job, Bialek reached out to Cain for help. "Mr. Cain instead decided to try to provide her with his idea of a...

All the ingredients are here. We have a potentially powerful politician, a hopelessly flimsy accusation of sexual misconduct and a predictable media, desperate to fill broadcast hours. Was there really ever any doubt that alleged civil rights attorney Gloria Allred would get involved? After all, whether she’s demonstrating anal sex using a baseball bat, buddying up to bereft pornstars or inserting herself into the life of Chaz Bono, she’s proven that her proper place is in front of a camera,

Herman Cain accuser Sharon Bialek plans "as of now" to appear on two morning television shows Tuesday, her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said. Bialek's allegation that Cain made an aggressive and unwanted sexual advance in 1997 has reignited the week-old controversy over reports of Cain's personal misconduct. And every national interview Bialek — or Allred — gives will make this even more problematic for Cain's campaign.

The women who accused GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment more than a decade ago have effectively been released from any agreements they signed pledging not to talk about the alleged episodes, according to employment lawyers. On Friday, the group Cain headed at the time, the National Restaurant Association, agreed to release one of the women from her confidentiality pledge—at least to allow her attorney, Joel Bennett, to release a carefully drafted statetment saying she stood by the charge. But because Cain has called the charges fabricated and at least in one instance suggested one of his accusers...

Huntsman to Cain: Address Allegations 'In Total" WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential contender Jon Huntsman is calling on rival Herman Cain to disclose all information about the allegations of sexual harassment that have consumed the GOP race. Huntsman tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the information needs to come out "in total" because legitimate questions have been raised and the controversy has distracted from real issues on the campaign trail.

Attempting to turn reports of sexual harassment allegations back on the media, the campaign for Republican presidential contender Herman Cain is targeting journalists by passing out a code of ethics offering guidelines on how to report stories. On Sunday, Cain campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon emailed passages from the Society of Professional Journalist Code of Ethics that highlighted limiting the use of anonymous sources and evaluating their truthfulness and motives before allowing their use. The code also offered a few reminders like removing arrogance from reporting, showing good taste, being accountable, not pandering to lurid curiosity, treating subjects of stories as...

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) -- Republican presidential contender Herman Cain grew agitated with reporters after a debate with Newt Gingrich and is vowing to never answer questions about allegations of sexual harassment a decade ago. Speaking after a one-on-one debate with rival Gingrich on Saturday, Cain cut off reporters who asked about allegations of sexual harassment and suggested journalists who wanted answers were behaving unethically.

(Reuters) - Allegations that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harassed women in the 1990s have begun to damage his bid for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The poll showed the percentage of Republicans who view Cain favorably dropped 9 percentage points, to 57 percent from 66 percent a week ago.

The attorney for one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment said Friday that “a series of inappropriate behaviors and unwanted advances” spanning months led his client to take action. He also challenged the presidential contender’s credibility in claiming not to recall details about the incidents or her allegations. The late-day news conference by lawyer Joel P. Bennett offered the most details to date of a scandal that has consumed Washington and the race for the Republican nomination for the past week. His account contrasts with comments made by Cain, who initially disputed the allegations but later...

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll out today shows the allegations stemming from Cain's tenure in the 1990s as head of the National Restaurant Association haven't made much of an impact. Seven in 10 Republicans in the survey say the allegations don't matter when it comes to picking a presidential candidate. A majority of GOP and GOP-leaning voters, or 55%, say the allegations are not a "serious matter." But the poll, taken Oct. 31-Nov. 3, shows some challenges for Cain. Among the 39% who say the allegations are serious, half say it makes them less likely to support the businessman...

CNN) - Joel Bennett, the attorney for one the women who has accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment, said Friday that his client "made a complaint in good faith about a series of inappropriate behaviors and unwanted advances" from the GOP presidential candidate. Bennett said his client sees "no value" in revisiting the issue now, but "stands by the complaint that she made." Bennett said his client would disagree with Cain's characterization of the alleged harassment incidents. He confirmed that the alleged harassment occurred in 1999 over a period of "at least a month or two." There was "more than...

Joel Bennett held a press conference moments ago on behalf of his client who alleged sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain, and it amounted to a big fat zero of any relevant information to this. The woman doesn’t want to reveal her identity or her side of the story. What’s interesting is that the NRA, according to their statement below, would have released her from the confidentiality portion of the agreement to allow her to vocalize her side of the story. But they still opted not to. So, end of story. Here is the NRA’s statement: “We have seen the...

Liberal attack-dog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Friday over allegations that Prosperity USA, a nonprofit advocacy corporation run by Herman Cain campaign manager Mark Block, paid for iPads and travel related to Cain’s presidential campaign. If true, says CREW, the Cain campaign — and Block personally — would be guilty of violating at least two federal election laws. The allegations were first reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on October 30, based on internal financial records the newspaper said it obtained. The Journal Sentinel reported the following day that...

The lawyer for one of the woman who received a financial settlement after alleging sexual harassment by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain when he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s said Friday that the woman stands by her allegations but is choosing not to discuss them publicly. The woman "sees no value in revisiting" the complaint, attorney Joel Bennett said, saying the woman and her husband feel it would be "extremely painful to do so." "My client stands by the complaint that she made," said Bennett, adding that "she would disagree with the statement's [Cain has]...

Politico's Roger Simon, who said Rick Perry being racist appeals to GOP primary voters over the weekend, touts his publication for its anonymously-sourced article claiming presidential hopeful Herman Cain sexually harassed two women while he was the chief of a restaurant lobbying group. Simon claims it Herman Cain's botched response that is "derailing his own campaign" and not the Politico for continuing to hound and pressure the candidate.