Nancy Pelosi: 'Congressman Conyers should resign'
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Beleaguered Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) had a very eventful Thursday morning. Hours after one of his accusers spoke to the Today show about his alleged sexual harassment, Conyers was hospitalized with a "stress-related illness." Now, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wants Conyers to resign from his congressional seat.
"The allegations against Congressman Conyers, as we have learned more since Sunday, are serious, disappointing, and very credible," Pelosi told reporters. "Congressman Conyers should resign."
An hour later, Conyers' lawyer fired back that "Nancy Pelosi did not elect the congressman and she sure as hell won't tell the congressman to leave."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Earlier Thursday, Marion Brown, a former staffer for the Democratic congressman, told the Today show that he "asked me to satisfy him sexually. He pointed to areas of, genital areas of his body and asked me to, you know, touch it." After BuzzFeed News reported last week that Brown — who was unnamed in the piece — settled a wrongful termination suit against Conyers for allegedly firing her after she rejected his sexual advances, two more former staffers came out with allegations of sexual misconduct against the Democratic congressman. Conyers maintains his innocence.
Pelosi initially sided with the congressman, calling him "an icon in our country" who had "done a great deal to protect women." The next day she said in a statement that she had spoken to one of Conyers' accusers and believed the allegations, but she stopped short of asking for his resignation.
You can watch Pelosi have a final change of heart below: Kelly O'Meara Morales
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
How the FCC’s ‘equal time’ rule worksIn the Spotlight The law is at the heart of the Colbert-CBS conflict
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
‘Poor time management isn’t just an inconvenience’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
