2.16 pm. Absent any more details, all I can say is that, at the very least, Cain needs to respond to this specific allegation. I believe the woman, but I tend to believe most professional women who give credible evidence of abuse of power by bosses.
2.12 pm. CNN is covering this story by talking over the press conference and switching to the Michael Jackson verdict. MSNBC's "Breaking News" is that NBC News has been unable to confirm the allegations outlined minutes ago. Now I can't find any cable news coverage of the press conference. Seriously: Jon Stewart is right. These channels are worthless.
2.07 pm. Cain has countered with a statement denying any sexual harassment of anyone. So these four women are, according to him, lying. Including the latest who was, at one point, a fervent Cain fan and subsequently attended a recent Tea Party event. It will be hard to turn Bialek into a liberal tool. On the other hand, it wasn't clear to me if she was actually employed by the NRA when Cain allegedly tried to grope her and force her head down to his dick. It doesn't make his behavior any the less gross, but it does make it more of an ethical than a legal issue.
2.01 pm. A pretty ugly physical account: pushing his hand up her leg toward her genitals, and pushing her head down toward his crotch. "You want a job, don't you?" is a pretty horrifying invitation to have sex. But these details were not conveyed to her boyfriend or second witness, so far as I can tell. From this account, I can only say I find her persuasive. And his alleged attempt to push her head toward his crotch may cast some context on his previous remarks about women being shorter or taller than his wife.
1.59 pm. Her account underlines her previous admiration of Cain. She called his speech which she witnessed "incredibly inspiring." She then asked: "When are you running for president?"
1.57 pm. Allred then gets the wind in her sails, accusing Cain of lying and abusing power, calling him a serial sexual harasser. Allred also has two contemporaneous affidavits of Bialek's complaints. No details yet, as we await Sharon Bialek.
1.54 pm. So we have a firing without apparent good reason. And then a request from Ms Bialek to Mr Cain to help her find another job. Instead, allegedly, he offered her in the classic Allred phrase: "his own version of a stimulus package."
1.51 pm. The first thing to note is that, according to Allred, the accuser is a Republican, an accomplished professional and white.