2012年2月10日星期五

Newest Cain Accuser Has History of Financial Trouble

Like one of his earlier accusers, the latest woman to accuse Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual misconduct has a history of financial trouble, with a threat of eviction for non-payment of rent just two weeks ago.

Ginger White, who claimed in an interview with Atlanta Fox News affiliate WAGA to have had a 13-year-affair with Cain, has liens and civil judgments in Kentucky and Georgia dating back to 1994.

Eleven of those liens have been filed since 2009, with nine in 2011. The owners of her apartment complex in Dunwoody, Georgia have sued her for non-payment of rent nearly every month since the beginning of the year.

White, a 46-year-old unemployed single mother who is at least twice divorced, was described by WAGA as an Atlanta-area businesswoman. While living in Louisville, Kentucky, she worked at Recruitment Plus, LLC. According to WAGA, she filed a sex harassment claim against an employer ten years ago, and the case was settled. The station also found a bankruptcy filing from the late 1980s.

In January, there is a scheduled court date in an unrelated civil suit filed against her by a former business partner, Kimberly Vay, who alleges that White stalked and harassed her and had sought a protective order. A judge has entered a default judgment in Vay's favor.

White said in her interview that her alleged affair with Cain was "pretty simple."

"It wasn't complicated," said White. "I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship."

WAGA reported that White provided documentation to support her claims, including cell phone records indicating calls and texts from Cain, some in the early morning hours. White also claimed Cain flew her to different cities and lavished her with gifts.

"He made it very intriguing, very fun," White said. "It was something that took me away from my humdrum life at the time."

READ: WAGA's Full Report 'Ga. Woman Alleges Herman Cain Affair'

An attorney for White told WAGA that Cain had also provided financial support to White when she fell on hard times.

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Cain spoke out about White's allegations just minutes before her interview aired. Cain said on CNN Monday there would be "another accusation that I had an affair with someone, a woman."

Before WAGA's broadcast, Cain said that he knew the woman and had considered her a friend but emphatically denied any affair took place.

"I want to get out in front of [the story] because I have nothing to hide," Cain said. "I have done nothing wrong."

Cain has previously denied accusations of sexual harassment leveled against him by several women both publicly and privately.

Cain's attorney, Lin Wood, provided WAGA with a statement before the broadcast saying White's claim "appears to be an accusation of private, alleged consensual conduct between adults -- a subject matter which is not a proper subject of inquiry by the media or the public."

"No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life," Wood's statement said, according to WAGA. That statement, apparently made before Cain's appearance on CNN, said the presidential candidate would not speak about the allegations.

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In a statement, Cain's campaign called the accusations just another attempt to "derail the Cain Train."

"The Cain Campaign is not surprised that another female accuser has come forward due to the fact that earlier allegations were unable to force Herman Cain to drop his presidential bid to renew America," the campaign said in a statement.

The accusations came just two weeks after Cain's wife of 43 years, Gloria, made a rare public appearance to defend her husband and deny he had ever strayed. "His conscience would bother him and he couldn't look me straight in the eye."

Earlier Cain Accuser's Rocky Financial, Job History

Sharon Bialek of Chicago came forward on November 7 to allege while Cain was president of the National Restaurant Association in 1997, he had sexually harassed her.

According to Bialek, she sought his help finding employment during a meeting in Washington. Bialek claims that after drinks and dinner, Cain stuck his hand up her skirt and tried to pull her head toward his crotch.

"I said, 'What are you doing?'" alleged Bialek, who said she had contacted Cain for help getting a job. "You know I have a boyfriend. This isn't what I came here for."

According to Bialek, Cain answered, "You want a job, right?"

According to public documents reviewed by ABC News, Bialek, 50, has a history of job changes and financial woes over the past two decades.

She has declared bankruptcy twice, and has lost multiple court judgments for debts totalling more than $10,000.

Bialek filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and again in 2001. Among the debts listed in 2001 are over $14,000 in credit card charges and more than $17,000 owed to the lawyer who handled a paternity case.

As of August 2011, she owed the Illinois Dept. of Revenue $4,384. By 2009, she owed the federal government $5,176 in taxes for years 2004 and 2005. There was also a lien for $885 filed against her in 2006 by a company that installed a water heater in her apartment. It was not clear if Bialek has repaid the debts.

In 2000, a judge awarded plaintiff Broadacre Management $4930.77 for unpaid rent, which included court costs. Broadacre was listed as a creditor on her 2001 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. Last year Bialek lost a default judgment for more than $3,500 to Illinois Lending, according to Cook County online court records, and in 2005 lost another judgment in a separate case for more than $3,000.

Cain campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon said in a statement that Bialek's accusations were false and that Cain's opponents were behind them. He claimed that Cain's opponents "have now convinced a woman with a long history of severe financial difficulties, including personal bankruptcy, to falsely accuse the Republican frontrunner of events allegedly occurring well over a decade ago for which there is no record, nor even a complaint filed."

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