John Conyers retires after 53 years in office amid sexual harassment claims

Facing a growing number of sexual harassment claims and a rising chorus of voices demanding he resign, U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Detroit, on Tuesday retired from the seat he had held for more than five decades, a swift and crushing fall from grace for a civil rights icon and the longest-serving active member of Congress.

Interviewed by phone on the Mildred Gaddis Show on WPZR-FM (102.7) Tuesday morning, Conyers, 88, announced his immediate retirement, even as he continued to fight the allegations against him raised by no fewer than six former female employees.

"They're not accurate, they're not true and they're something I can't explain where they came from," Conyers said of the accusations, adding that his legacy "can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we’re going through now."

"This, too, shall pass," he said, adding that he would endorse his son, John III, to replace him in Congress and that he appreciated the "incredible, undiminished support I’ve received across the years from my supporters, not only from my district but across the country as well."

Conyers made his exit after nearly 53 years as a fixture on Capitol Hill, the longest-serving African American in congressional history and one who rose to become the first black chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus.

In Washington, few commented on his departure at all.

In a statement by Conyers read on the floor of the U.S. House by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, he said, "I vehemently deny any and all allegations of harassment or dishonor, but I recognize that in this present environment, due process will not be afforded to me." His resignation was noted in the House record shortly before 3 p.m.

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In Washington, there was initially some confusion over Conyers' actions.

Even though Conyers announced his retirement about 10:15 a.m. and Jackson Lee read his statement about 11 a.m., it wasn't until midafternoon when House Speaker Paul Ryan, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder were all informed of the decision, making it final.

By 3 p.m., the situation was sorted out. Ryan's and Pelosi's offices had received a signed letter from Conyers saying he had "made the decision to retire ... effective today" and it was read into the House record. Ryan's spokesman also said the speaker's office had received a copy of a signed letter sent by the congressman to the governor finalizing his departure from Congress.

Snyder's spokeswoman, Anna Heaton, confirmed receipt of the letter, adding that the date of the special election to fill the seat for the remainder of Conyers' 27th two-year term was not immediately set.

At least two people with the last name of Conyers — John III and Conyers' grand-nephew, Ian, a state senator, may bid for the seat, however.

Conyers made his decision to quit nearly two weeks to the day after an article on BuzzFeed.com detailed a secret settlement of more than $27,000 with a former staffer who accused him of making sexual advances toward her and paying her out of funds from his taxpayer-supported office.

Within days, several other women came forward with accusations against Conyers, who, despite his express denials that he harassed anyone, saw House leaders and members of his own party abandon him, with three of the four Democrats in the Michigan delegation calling for him to resign last Thursday.

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The House Ethics Committee — with authority to recommend any action from censure or expulsion to doing nothing — also launched an investigation against Conyers, with the nation's political, entertainment and media worlds being rocked with allegations of sexual harassment by powerful men including movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, TV news anchors Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer, and U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

That committee probe is likely now at an end with Conyers' departure, however, as the panel only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress.

Within moments of Conyers' statement on Tuesday morning, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who replaced him as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee only a week before in the wake of the allegations, saying, "I am saddened that his service to our nation has had to end under these circumstances."

"John has been a champion for justice his entire life, and there is no doubt that these allegations have taken a tremendous toll on him personally," Nadler said. "With that said, there can be no tolerance for behavior that subjects women to the kind of conduct that has been alleged."

But further reaction was muted. Despite advance word that he might be leaving, Democrats in Congress largely stayed silent throughout the day.

"Congressman Conyers has served in the Congress for more than five decades, and shaped some of the most consequential legislation of the last half century. But no matter how great the legacy, it is no license to harass or discriminate," Pelosi said late in the afternoon. "I pray for Congressman Conyers and his family and wish them well."

She also called on Congress to pass legislation adding greater transparency and accountability in a byzantine, secretive system in place for handling sexual harassment complaints.

In addition to Marion Brown — the staffer who received the settlement and later spoke publicly about it, breaking a nondisclosure agreement — at least five other women have now publicly claimed they either experienced or saw Conyers touching and rubbing women in his office, making sexual advances toward them or otherwise acting inappropriately.

On Tuesday, after Conyers made his announcement, a former volunteer for him, Delores Lyons, signed a statement via Brown's attorney, Lisa Bloom, saying she was driving once with the congressman in 2011 or 2012 when he "grabbed my hand off of the steering wheel and put it on his penis." Lyons said she pulled her hand away. She also said Conyers rubbed and touched her inappropriately on other occasions and that Brown confided in her that Conyers made sexual advances toward her.

Lyons' statement was posted on Twitter by Bloom, who on Monday night also released the statement of another former worker, Elisa Grubbs, who accused Conyers of putting his hand up her skirt at a church, among other allegations.

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Among the others, one filed a lawsuit against him early this year and then withdrew it, saying she didn't want to hurt Conyers' reputation. Another woman, Washington lawyer Melanie Sloan, told the Free Press last month that Conyers had verbally mistreated her, forced her to babysit his children and, on one occasion, showed up at a meeting with her at his office in his underwear — though she didn't consider it sexual harassment. Another former employee, Deanna Maher, said Conyers groped her on three occasions when she worked for him.

Several former Conyers staffers who spoke to the Free Press in recent weeks said that the complaints didn't comport with what they saw in the office, saying there were a great deal of women who flirted with the congressman and tried to win his attention and they they didn't experience or see any harassment.

For the most part, however, those workers didn't refute the women's accusations — only that it didn't match with what they had seen and experienced.

As late as Tuesday morning, there were reports that Conyers would fight on, choosing to remain in office until the end of his current term and then retire in early 2019. The reports turned out to be false.

Bloom on Tuesday afternoon said Conyers resigned to avoid facing the accusers she was intent on bringing forward in an Ethics investigation, saying Brown and the others "wanted the opportunity to testify before the committee and tell their stories." Now, however, the committee investigation appears to be at an end, she said, though the committee hadn't put out official word that it is over.

"(He) resigned to kill that hearing," Bloom said. "He knew we had multiple additional accusers and witnesses coming forward and that we wanted that hearing. We are very disappointed that it is now canceled."

From accusation to retirement, many of Conyers' colleagues in Congress went from being warily supportive, urging caution while the investigation by the Ethics Committee was completed, to issuing outright calls for his resignation, even from at least one fellow member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which he helped to create in 1971.

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U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking Democrat in the House and a colleague of Conyers' on the Congressional Black Caucus since 1993, called for him to resign last Thursday, shortly after similar calls by Ryan and Pelosi.

In Michigan, U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak and Bill Huizenga, R-Holland, joined in the chorus of calls for Conyers to step aside.

None of them immediately issued comments on Conyers' decision on Tuesday, however. The state Democratic Party, meanwhile, commented only briefly on it, saying, "We respect (his) decision to do what he believes is best for his family, friends, constituents, and the institution in which he has served for over fifty years."

It was a shockingly short statement considering Conyers' longevity and status.

Conyers' attorney, Arnold Reed of Southfield, had reiterated on several occasions previous to Tuesday that the congressman was not ready to resign and wanted to see the Ethics investigation — with which he said he would cooperate —- completed. He allowed, however, that Conyers might leave office if it were best for his family and his constituents.

More than 200 supporters, including some of Detroit's most influential political, religious and civil rights leaders, gathered in Detroit on Monday to reiterate that the congressman deserved the same due process rights as any other member of Congress and President Donald Trump, who also has been accused of sexual harassment.

But the pressure on Conyers was apparently too great.

Less than a week after the claims first surfaced, with allegations swirling not only over the harassment claims but his use of taxpayer funds to pay at least one settlement, he abruptly stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, a position he had held for more than two decades.

Then, with media reports that some members of the black caucus were privately urging him to resign, he suddenly left Washington, missing several votes last week, including one mandating sexual harassment training for members, as he headed back to Detroit and his family.

On Wednesday a week ago he was hospitalized, his lawyer saying he believed it was stress-related. Then came the louder calls for him to resign, which finally culminated with the accusations —- many of them graphic and involving him groping or asking staffers for sex — ending Conyers' storied career.

It was a remarkable 53-year-run during which Conyers, the son of a well-known labor lawyer in Detroit, compiled a near-record legacy of civil rights activism, longevity and advocacy for the poor and underprivileged.

He retires with the sixth-longest tenure in congressional history.

Contact Kathleen Gray: kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal. Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.