Ohio Senate race: Sen. Brown threatens legal action after accusation of 'unwanted' advance against woman in '80's

Scott Wartman | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Renacci claims new abuse allegations against Brown Jim Renacci met with the Enquirer editorial board on October 17.

Earlier this week, Republican Senate candidate and Congressman Jim Renacci revealed to The Enquirer "multiple women" contacted him with allegations they were abused by his Democratic opponent and veteran U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Renacci wouldn't reveal who they were. Late Thursday night, an attorney released a statement on behalf of one of the women.

In the statement, Canton, Ohio area attorney Laura Mills described a sexual encounter her client had with Brown in the late 1980s. Brown was Ohio's Secretary of State at the time and the unnamed woman had met Brown in the course of her work.

According to Mills, Brown pushed her client up against a wall.

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"She described an unexpected, uninvited, unwanted, and sudden advance, roughly pushing her up against a wall," Mills said in the statement. "It did stop after she expressed dismay and very firmly pulled away, explaining that was not her style nor why she was there. He then said he remembered what she had on the day they had met some time earlier and that he had been attracted to her."

Mills, who has served as Renacci's lawyer and has donated to his campaigns, said her client wants to remain anonymous. She was able to "defuse the situation" but was shaken up by it, Mills said in the statement.

Brown's campaign on Thursday sent a cease and desist letter to Renacci, demanding he stop "false and libelous statements."

"At the very least you were acting with reckless disregard to the truth, as you must have been aware that the statements you were making had no basis in fact," Brown's attorney Marc Erik Elias wrote in the email.

Brown's campaign spokesman, Preston Maddock, in a statement, pointed out Mills is a former business partner of Renacci. The campaign plans on pursuing "all legal means" against Renacci.

"Pure and simple, this is character assassination by a failed and desperate candidate who every day reaches new low," Maddock said.

Renacci revealed the possible existence of multiple accusers against Brown at a time in the campaign where he's trailing in many polls by double-digits. For months, Renacci has hammered Brown on a three-decade-old domestic abuse allegation and restraining order filed against him by his ex-wife in 1986 amid a contentious divorce.

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Brown's ex-wife, Larke Recchie, has strongly condemned Renacci's attacks on Brown and has supported Brown's re-election efforts.

Renacci told The Enquirer Wednesday the alleged abuse of the other women happened after his divorce. When they approached him, he referred them to Mills, an attorney who specializes in domestic abuse cases.

Mills said her client released the statement because of the news coverage generated by Renacci's comments. After the #MeToo movement began in the past year, she told a friend about the experience. It was this friend that contacted Renacci, Mills said.

"This was months ago, shortly after the MeToo movement began, and the reason she told her friend was to explain why she believed many of the women, as something unwanted had happened to her with a prominent politician," Mills said in the statement. "She had no intention of coming forward and did not know that the friend would later contact Jim Renacci with it. When she did, he referred her to discuss the experience with me."

His campaign called the allegations from Renacci "desperate." Brown, in an interview with the Dayton Daily News on Thursday, denied the allegations.

"It's absolutely untrue," Brown told the Dayton Daily News. "...Renacci should be ashamed of this. He's clearly a desperate candidate just doing whatever he can do to upend everything. There's no truth to those."

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Read the full statement from attorney Laura Mills:

“I am the lawyer who Jim Renacci has referred to in the press as an attorney who handles domestic and sexual abuse cases. He did not want to disclose my name because his referral to me was for the benefit of women contacting his office and he did not believe he had a right to do so. I have received consent from one of the women to make a statement. She is a very credible source and a professional woman. This is what she disclosed to me. “She met Sherrod Brown in the course of her work and had occasion to be briefly alone with him, but not on a date. She told a friend in confidence about her unwanted and unexpected experience in the late 80’s. This was months ago, shortly after the MeToo movement began, and the reason she told her friend was to explain why she believed many of the women, as something unwanted had happened to her with a prominent politician. She had no intention of coming forward and did not know that the friend would later contact Jim Renacci with it. When she did, he referred her to discuss the experience with me. “This encounter happened after his divorce. She described an unexpected, uninvited, unwanted, and sudden advance, roughly pushing her up against a wall. It did stop after she expressed dismay and very firmly pulled away, explaining that was not her style nor why she was there. He then said he remembered what she had on the day they had met some time earlier and that he had been attracted to her. Although she was able to defuse the situation, it did shake her up and she told friends about it as soon as she got home. They wanted her to report it but she chose not to do so because it did stop. She has also told a few other people over the years about what a shock it was, but did not intend to ever bring it forward recently other than to let friends know this is why she believed many other women's stories about similar experiences. And also it happened a very long time ago. She is only allowing this statement because the current news coverage does not have all the facts yet, and she wants to correct the record. “The woman desires to be anonymous and I will not disclose her name or any further information on her behalf.”

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