Details on Cain accusations continue to emerge
Updated: 6:46 p.m. ET
New information about the events surrounding 1990s-era sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain suggests that "urgent discussions at top levels of the National Restaurant Association" accompanied at least one incident for which Cain was accused, according to Politico.
Cain told Fox News Monday he was "totally unaware as to any formal charges coming from" anyone other than the one incident he spoke of publicly, which referenced a different accusation.
The new report indicates that a separate woman said she went directly to the NRA's board after what she called an "unwanted sexual advance" by Cain.
According to Politico, the woman said Cain made what she felt was an overtly sexual suggestion and that "she perceived that her job was at risk if she didn't do it." She told the multiple unnamed sources Cain invited her to his hotel room at an NRA meeting, Politico says, and that "both the context and the way Cain phrased the invitation made her feel extremely uncomfortable, even incensed." She also reportedly told multiple sources she had lodged a complaint with the NRA's board of directors the same night.
The woman reportedly left the NRA shortly after the incident. According to a report by the New York Times, she received settlement of $35,000.
Cain, who has flatly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, dismissed the notion that there had even been an "inappropriate conversation" in a hotel room.
"So you have never -- have you ever been in a hotel room, to have even -- to have inappropriate conversation with anyone?" asked Fox's Greta Van Susteren on Monday.
"No," Cain said.
The candidate largely stayed out of the spotlight Thursday, but decried what he described as the "gutter politics" surrounding the affair in a radio interview with Sean Hannity.
"The American people are starting to see through this stuff, and they are sick of gutter politics," Cain said. "This will not deter me."
"I didn't know there were so many women named 'anonymous' in America, frankly," he added.
Earlier today, Politico reported that another women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment during the 1990s was paid about $45,000 as part of a settlement.
The report states that the woman who received the payout is the same woman Cain spoke about in an interview with Fox News when he recounted his version of the incident earlier this week. That is the woman Cain has said he knew made a formal accusation against him. According to Cain's account, she was a writer in the communications department of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) when Cain was the lobbying group's chief executive.
In the interview, Cain said he did not remember the woman's name, but that he thought she had received "maybe three months' salary or something like that," as part of the deal.
Of the incident itself, Cain described it as a reaction to a gesture he made about the woman's height.
"She was in my office one day, and I made a gesture saying, and I was standing close to her, and I made a gesture saying, 'You are the same height as my wife.' And I brought my hand up to my chin saying my wife comes up to my chin."
One of the two women is now asking for clearance to respond to reports about the matter, CBS News political correspondent Jan Crawford reportedthis morning.
Joel Bennett, an attorney for the woman, said his client will today ask the NRA for permission to address the reports without violating the confidentiality agreement she signed.
In a statement Thursday, the NRA said it would respond to Bennett's request on Friday.
"Our outside counsel was contacted by Mr. Bennett today and was asked to provide a response to a proposed statement by tomorrow afternoon. We are currently reviewing the document, and we plan to respond tomorrow," said Sue Hensley, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs Communications for the National Restaurant Association.
Meanwhile, the Cain campaign continues to sparwith fellow presidential contender Rick Perry's team about whether or not someone associated with his campaign may have leaked the allegations against Cain to Politico.
In an interview with Forbes Wednesday, Cain suggested that former Cain staffer Curt Anderson, who worked for him in a previous Senate campaign, was behind the leak.
The story quotes Cain saying he briefed Anderson about "one set of charges" from his time at the NRA.
"Those charges were baseless, but I thought he needed to know about them," Cain told Forbes. "I don't recall anyone else being in the room when I told him."
Cain chief of staff Mark Blockreiterated that accusationin a Fox News interview last night, saying he was "absolutely" charging the Perry campaign with "stirring this up," before demanding an apology from the Texas governor's team.
Anderson has repeatedly denied that charge, and expressed "disappointment" Thursday that he was being used as a "pawn"in Cain's narrative.
"I didn't know anything about this," said Anderson.
"I'm disappointed he tried to use me as a pawn to get out of the mess he's in," he continued, adding that he still considers Cain a "great presidential candidate."
A former senior campaign staffer to Cain told CBS' Crawford, however, he thought it was inconceivable that Anderson not know about the allegation, and doubted Anderson's claim of ignorance on the matter. The former campaign staffer, who Cain fired after only a couple of months in late 2003, said the campaign knew there had been an allegation against Cain during his days at the NRA and that they thought it might come up in opposition research. He said that if he knew about it, Anderson must also have -- because Anderson was the campaign's general consultant and therefore above him on the totem pole.
The staffer also said he never heard of any other similar allegations against Cain; he said the campaign understood the incident to be a single and baseless allegation. The staffer, who is now at a pro-family, non-profit in Virginia, asked not to be named. But he said he and Cain remained on good terms, and that Cain spoke to his organization several years ago. He said he was fired after he and Cain butted heads over budgetary decisions.
Block told Fox News Thursday that he was "thrilled" to hear Anderson say he hadn't leaked the allegations. But he refused let the entire Perry campaign off the hook just yet.
"Until we get all the facts, I'm just going to say that we accept what Mr. Anderson had said. And we want to move on with the campaign. Let's get over these things that don't mean anything to the American public," Block continued.
He emphasized the campaign's desire to "move on."
"We're glad to see those results and thrilled to be moving on with our campaign. It's not just those poll results. It's the response that Mr. Cain has gotten across the country for not cancelling events -taking these allegations on - head on and is evidenced by our fundraising quite frankly in the last 24 hours," Block said. "We had the best day ever yesterday since we started this in January...we're in a position to move ahead--to campaign hard."
