Source: Cain accuser wary of revisiting episode

WASHINGTON — Despite her lawyer’s claims, a woman who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment in the 1990s is reluctant to talk about the episode in public, a person close to the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday, as the Republican presidential candidate grew increasingly agitated with questions about the allegations.

The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the accusations, said no decision has been made about asking the National Restaurant Association to release the woman from a confidentiality agreement that was part of her settlement. And the person said that the fact that the incident has become public is very unsettling to the woman. Cain led the association at the time the accusations were made.

Nevertheless, Joel P. Bennett, the woman’s lawyer, contacted the association on Wednesday asking it to release his client from the confidentiality agreement so she can talk openly about her allegations and respond to Cain’s claims that the complaints were “totally baseless and totally false.”

Sue Hensley, a restaurant association spokeswoman, said Bennett contacted the trade group and was told to contact its outside counsel. Hensley said: “Mr. Bennett indicated that he would do so tomorrow, after he met with his client.”

Earlier Wednesday, Cain refused to say whether he would urge his former employer to terminate the confidentiality restrictions and grew agitated when questioned about the accusations. He was supposed to take questions after a speech to health care professionals but he ultimately refused and left the hotel through a back door.

“I’m here to visit with these doctors and that’s what I’m going to talk about, so don’t even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, OK? Don’t even bother,” a testy Cain told a throng of reporters.

When pressed about the allegations, Cain raised his voice and said “What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me!” as hotel security led him through a hotel hallway jammed with journalists in a Washington suburb. “What part of `no’ don’t people understand?”

Cain’s campaign manager, Mark Block, repeatedly refused to say whether the campaign was in discussions with the trade association over letting the woman talk freely. Block said the campaign would address that question “when it’s appropriate.”

The pressure on Cain only increased early Wednesday when a pillar of the GOP establishment suggested that the Georgia businessman should ask the association to waive the agreement so that the woman can talk openly about her allegations.

“What are the facts?” asked Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on MSNBC. “If you have a confidentiality agreement that keeps the public from finding out something that the public is interested in knowing the facts, you ought to go on and get the facts out.”

“Herman Cain’s interest is getting this behind him,” added Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman.

Over the past two days, Cain has admitted he knew of one agreement between the restaurant association and a woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He has said the woman initially asked for a large financial settlement but ultimately received two to three months’ pay as part of a separation agreement. Cain also acknowledged remembering one of the woman’s accusations against him, saying he stepped close to her to make a reference to her height and told her she was the same height as his wife.

He has said he is not aware of agreements or settlements with any other women, though Politico — which first disclosed the allegations — reported that the trade group had given settlements to at least two female employees who accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The New York Times reported Tuesday night that the trade group gave a female employee a year’s salary in severance pay, $35,000, after she said an encounter with Cain made her uncomfortable working there. The newspaper cited three people with knowledge of the payment to the woman, who was not Bennett’s client.

Cain has spent the past three days defending himself and giving conflicting accounts as to what happened in the 1990s.

For Cain, Wednesday was supposed to be the culmination of a three-day attempt at courting official Washington — and the GOP old guard that seems to be tilting ever more toward Romney.

A former talk show host, Cain is a self-styled political outsider who has attracted tea party support and, for now at least, weathered a series of stumbles that have many GOP luminaries questioning his ability to run a viable campaign much less win the party’s nomination. Conversely, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is running his second national campaign and has spent the past few weeks shoring up support among the GOP establishment for a nomination fight many Republican insiders think is his to lose.

Try as he might to project an image of campaign business as usual, Cain appeared frazzled and couldn’t escape the questions that have dogged him since the allegations surfaced three days ago — two months before the leadoff Iowa caucuses and just as polls show him at the head of the GOP field alongside Romney.

As Wednesday began, Cain spoke to the Northern Virginia Technology Association, saying: “There are factions that are trying to destroy me personally, as well as this campaign.” He didn’t say to whom he was referring, but he said “the voice of the people” is stronger.

Later, on Capitol Hill, Cain faced down a bank of cameras and reporters as he walked down the hallway in Rayburn House Office Building. He said nothing at all, ignoring shouted questions.

Later, he was appearing at back-to-back events set up by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga. First, Cain was to meet and greet House members at the discreet Capitol Hill Club for a conversation about health care policy. Then it was on to the Republican National Committee, where Cain was to speak with members of the Georgia delegation, a spokesman for Graves said.

At some point, Cain was to meet House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Ryan is meeting presidential candidates in his role at the Republican National Committee.