Herman Cain’s presidential campaign was done in by allegations of sexual harassment and assault, but apparently that’s not disqualifying for President Donald Trump, who reportedly is considering Cain for a Federal Reserve post.
Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, formerly the lawyer for one of the women who accused Cain, blasted the news. “It is not appropriate. This administration has no shame,” Allred said in an email to The Daily Beast. “They appear willing to consider Mr. Cain for a high level and very significant appointment despite the fact that Mr. Cain was accused of sexual harassment by one of my clients and in addition, he was accused of cheating on his wife by having an affair for more than a decade with another woman.”
Allred represented Sharon Bialek, who accused Cain of groping her when she interviewed for a job at the National Restaurant Association, where Cain served as the president and CEO in the late '90s. (Bialek did not respond to requests for comment.)
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Trump interviewed Cain about filling one of two vacancies on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. Cain is the former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 2011.
Bialek’s tearful accusation was one of several that came as Cain’s presidential campaign was in full swing.
“Apparently, President Trump does not think such allegations matter,” Allred said. “Could the reason that he appears to care little about such allegations relate to his own misconduct with women?”
Bialek alleged that Cain reached up her skirt to grope her and attempted to force her head into his crotch. When she objected, Bialek said Cain responded, “You want a job, right?"
Around the same time period, two other women who worked at the restaurant association received settlements from sexual harassment claims against Cain in exchange for signing non-disclosure agreements.
Cain repeatedly denied the allegations during his 2011 run, but his campaign ultimately never recovered. A third woman, Karen Kraushaar, eventually came forward in 2011. A fourth woman told the Associated Press she was harassed by Cain. A fifth woman, Ginger White, also emerged in 2011, and said she had a longtime, consensual affair with Cain.
Allred also represented former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos in her defamation suit against Trump. She withdrew from the case in March 2018, just days after a judge denied the president’s request to dismiss the case. Trump is supposed to provide written answers for deposition in that case.
