DETROIT (AP) — An announcement about the political future of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, beset with sexual harassment allegations made by former staff members, is planned Tuesday on a Detroit radio talk show, according to the embattled congressman’s attorney.
Conyers, 88, is expected to appear on the show, his attorney Arnold Reed said Monday evening.
Reed said the announcement will be about Conyers’ future and whether he will remain in the House. No other details were released.
The Michigan Chapter of the National Action Network civil rights group also said Monday that it will hold a news conference about the allegations against Conyers outside his Detroit home following Tuesday’s announcement on the radio show.
The House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations of harassment and inappropriate touching by women who once worked for Conyers, including claims by Marion Brown who could testify later this week before the committee.
Brown has said that she settled a complaint in 2015 that alleged she was fired because she rejected Conyers’ sexual advances. She was paid more than $27,000 by Conyers’ office in the confidential settlement.
Brown, 61, said last week that she was propositioned for sex multiple times over more than a decade.
Reed has said Conyers denies all of the allegations and will fight them.
Conyers is among a number of prominent men in politics, entertainment and journalism who have been accused of sexual misconduct in the wake of explosive allegations against former Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and a number of other colleagues in the House have called for the 88-year-old Detroit Democrat to step down.
But a number of prominent clergy, Detroit elected leaders and community activists said Monday at a rally in Detroit they will go to Washington — if necessary — to demand due process for Conyers.
“We don’t mind going to the White House, to the U.S. House of Representatives,” Michigan Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit, said. “We are demanding due process.”
Reed said last week that Conyers was hospitalized after feeling lightheaded. It was not clear Monday if Conyers still was hospitalized.
Conyers first was elected to the U.S. House in 1964. He is married to Monica Conyers who pleaded guilty in 2009 to conspiracy to commit bribery as a member of the Detroit City Council.
John Conyers has stepped aside as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. The committee’s website lists Conyers still as a member.
