Second woman claims John Conyers stripped down to underwear, ate sandwich in front of her
Former staffer says ranking politician also groped her during car ride
Former staffer says ranking politician also groped her during car ride
A second accuser and former staffer of Rep. John Conyers has come forward to accuse the ranking politician of unwanted sexual advances to her.
Deanne Maher told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Conyers had stripped down to his underwear in front of her. She was married at the time.
“He didn’t go naked. He was down to his skivvies,” Maher said. “He sat there eating sandwiches and then he stormed out and slammed the door. I was so embarrassed and ashamed of myself for being so stupid. I needed a job.”
Maher, who said that she “had my nightclothes on” and that she was “scared to death,” had been in Washington for her first year as Conyers’ deputy chief of staff to attend the Congressional Black Caucus in 1997.
–Twelves women who worked for John Conyers come to his defense–
Although Maher rebuffed Conyers, she claimed that he harassed her on two more occasions and that those occasions included unwanted touching.
She claimed that the congressman groped her in 1998 during a car ride to the airport and only stopped when he was pulled over for driving erratically. The following year, Maher said, he reached under her dress and felt her leg during a meeting with Highland Park clergy members.
“I didn’t know you had such great legs,” he allegedly told her.
Maher quit her job in 2005.
Although Maher did not report the harassment at the time, she did try to tell the Detroit Free Press about it in the 1990s and then again in 2013. However, she didn’t want to go on the record because she was worried about retaliation.
