Third House Dem calls for Conyers to resign

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) on Wednesday became the third Democratic lawmaker to openly call for Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) to resign amid sexual misconduct allegations.

In an interview on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” Blumenauer said that while Conyers must be the one to make the decision, he believes that the current longest-serving congressman should step down.

“Obviously that’s his decision, but I would think he should,” Blumenauer said. 

{mosads}

BuzzFeed News first reported earlier this month that Conyers had settled a wrongful dismissal complaint with a former employee who alleged that she was fired because she rebuffed his sexual advances.

Other former staffers accused Conyers of inappropriate behavior, including using congressional resources to transport women with whom they believed he was having affairs.

Following BuzzFeed’s report, a prominent ethics attorney told The Washington Post that Conyers once summoned her to his office wearing nothing but underwear.

Conyers, founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), stepped down from his post as the House Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat on Sunday pending an ethics investigation into his behavior.

He has said that he intends to clear his name and reclaim is leadership role on the committee.

Pressure on Conyers appears to be mounting, however. Already, Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have called on the Michigan Democrat to resign. And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is working with members of the CBC to push Conyers to step down, according to a senior aide.

“Pelosi continues to work with CBC to apply pressure to get Conyers to step down,” the aide said Tuesday.

The calls for Conyers to resign come as a number of powerful men in politics, business, media and entertainment face allegations of sexual impropriety, in some cases dating back years.