Appearing with lawyer L. Lin Wood at his 5 p.m. news conference on Tuesday, GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain gave a statement and answered reported questions regarding the recent flurry of sexual harassment charges.
Wood’s career includes defending Richard Jewell, falsely accused of the Atlanta Olympics bombing, Rep. Gary Condit, falsely accused of the murder of Chandra Levy, and John Ramsey, father of JonBenet Ramsey.
In his response, broadcast live on CNN, Cain said he chose to address the accusations “directly rather than through a series of continuous statements or spokespeople because that’s the person Herman Cain is.”
In an interview with the New York Post, a friend of Bialek’s from Chicago described her as a “complete gold digger.”
At his press conference, Cain simply called his accuser a “troubled woman.”
According to Men’s Rights Online, “large corporations have been targeted by opportunistic women.” The main incentives are financial gain, spite and attention seeking.
The late Dr. Sara Feldman-Schorrig of the UCLA School of Medicine, who coined the term “factitious sexual harassment,” once described how playing the victim role allows those who file false claims to “process feelings of distress resulting from abuse from other sources, the eliciting of emotional support and the opportunity to release anger against an identifiable target.”
“The individual,” Feldman-Schorrig concluded, “may also gratify preexisting needs for revenge.”
“This is a lady who lives off the system,” Bailek’s friend added. “She is hell-bent on finding a way of never having to work and living the lifestyle she wants to live, a very affluent lifestyle.”
Bialek, who has had nine different employers over the last seventeen years, claims she dated White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone while she worked at WGN radio. She has been unemployed for the past two years and filed bankruptcy twice.
“Most of her jobs ended in termination,” said Bialek’s Chicago friend. “It’s always the employer’s fault, not hers.”
Bailek, in addition to her lengthy record as a defendant in several civil lawsuits, was sued in 1999 over a paternity matter.
With Bialek, the friend concluded; “It’s all about the money.”
Cain said he saw Bialek for the first time when watched her televised press conference with attorney Gloria Allred on Monday from his hotel room.
“As they got to the microphone,” said Cain, “my first thought was, I don’t even know who this woman is.”
Asked by Steve Futterman of CBS if it is appropriate for “a candidate’s character to come under such a microscope in a campaign” and would he be willing to take a lie detector test, Cain answered yes to both questions.
Asked about accuser Karen Kraushaar who came forward on Tuesday, Cain said “that is the one (accuser) that I recall that filed a complaint but it was found to be baseless.”
Asked to clarify his previous statement that the charges were “insignificant,” Cain said “sexual harassment is a very serious charge,” and that he “never tried to minimize sexual harassment in the workplace.”
He explained further than he “dealt with” any instances he witnessed or heard of immediately.
“And I might add,” Cain elucidated, “It’s not just men” who are guilty of this work-place impropriety. “I’ve also seen situations where women have attempted to sexually harass men.”
At the conclusion of his press conference, in uncommon fashion, the members of the media applauded Cain.
In an interview with Michael Snead of the Chicago Sun Times, WIND radio co-host Amy Jacobson said she witnessed the encounter backstage at the AM 560 WIND sponsored TeaCon meeting in Schaumburg at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center a month ago.
According to Jacobson, “Sharon was hell bent on going backstage” where “she cornered him.”
“I shook his hand, and he remembered me,” AP quoted of Bialek’s version of the moment. “He looked a little uncomfortable.”
“It looked sort of flirtatious,” said Jacobson. “But she could have been giving him the kiss of death for all I know.”