An Atlanta television station is breaking a story tonight about a woman who claims she had a 13 year long consensual affair with Presidential candidate Herman Cain:
ATLANTA, Ga. – An Atlanta businesswoman is breaking her silence, claiming she has been involved in a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, FOX 5 senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell sat down with Ginger White, who had an amazing story to tell.
“It was pretty simple,” White said. “It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship.”
In an exclusive interview on FOX 5 News at 6, Russell will tell you why White is speaking out now, and show you the records that she says back up her story.
Cain actually broke the story himself this afternoon during an appearance on The Situation Room:
In another part of the interview, Cain explicitly denied that there was any kind of sexual relationship between him and this woman. Cain’s attorney has also released a statement:
“Mr. Cain has been informed today that your television station plans to broadcast a story this evening in which a female will make an accusation that she engaged in a 13-year long physical relationship with Mr. Cain. This is not an accusation of harassment in the workplace – this is not an accusation of an assault – which are subject matters of legitimate inquiry to a political candidate.
Rather, this 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. The public’s right to know and the media’s right to report has boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one’s bedroom door.
Mr. Cain has alerted his wife to this new accusation and discussed it with her. He has no obligation to discuss these types of accusations publicly with the media and he will not do so even if his principled position is viewed unfavorably by members of the media.”
I’ll update the post with details later, but it strikes me at least initially that the Cain people were actually pretty smart in pre-empting the report here and making at least the initial revelation themselves. It shows that they might have actually learned something from the debacle in October. At the same time, though, it’s worth noting that Cain’s attorney is saying that they’ll be making no comments to the media, and yet there’s Cain on CNN at 4pm making comments to the media. Also, Cain denied there was an affair, his attorney’s statement does not.
Personally, I’m not sure whether this all matters. I’m no Herman Cain fan, but having a consensual affair is very different from allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, and the fact that he may be guilty of the first does not mean he’s guilty of other, more serious, charges. Nonetheless, it’s another straw on the camel’s back, and Cain did say at one point during his interview with Biltzer that there may come a time he will have to consider the impact these allegations are having on his family regardless of what it means for his campaign. Some may take that as a signal that he’s opening the door to a withdrawal, but that’s open to interpretation.
Nonetheless, here we are at Round Two of the Herman Cain sex scandal. Something tells me there’s more to come.
Update: Further details from the updated report at Fox 5 Atlanta:
ATLANTA, Ga. – An Atlanta businesswoman is breaking her silence, claiming she has been involved in a 13-year-long affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, FOX 5 senior I-Team reporter Dale Russell sat down with Ginger White, who had a story to tell.
“I’m not proud,” White told Russell. “I didn’t want to come out with this. I did not.”
White was worried a political tsunami was headed her way. So, she decided to head it off, by confessing she was involved in a 13-year-long affair with presidential hopeful Herman Cain.
“It was pretty simple,” White said. “It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. And I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship.”
Ginger White says she met Herman Cain in the late 90s in Louisville, Kentucky, when as president of the National Restaurant Association, he made a presentation. She was impressed. She says they shared drinks afterwards and he invited her back to his hotel room.
“‘I’d like to see you again,’” White said Cain told her. “‘You are beautiful to me, and I would love for us to continue this friendship.’”
She says in his hotel room, he pulled out a calendar and invited her to meet him in Palm Springs. She accepted, and she says the affair began.
“He made it very intriguing,” White told FOX 5. “It was fun. It was something that took me away from my humdrum life at the time. And it was exciting.”
She says he gave her his newly-published book, Leadership is Common Sense, and he wrote: “Miss G, you have already made a ‘big difference!’ Stay focused as you pursue your next destination.”
She says during the next 13 years, he would fly her to cities where he was speaking and he lavished her with gifts. She says they often stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead and dined at The Four Seasons restaurant. She says he never harassed her, never treated her poorly, and was the same man you see on the campaign trail.
“Very much the same, very much confident, very much sure of himself,” White said, describing Cain. “Very arrogant in a playful sometimes way. Very, ah — Herman Cain loves Herman Cain.”
When his new book, CEO of SELF, came out in 2001, she says Cain once again autographed it for her writing, “Friends are forever! Everything else is a bonus.”
When asked if it was fair to say the relationship is going on even now, White said, “I think it is safe to say that after this interview, that will be the end of it. Yes, we have a friendship now.”
She says the physical relationship ended about eight months ago, right before Cain announced he was running for president. But the communication did not. When we asked for any corroborating evidence, she pointed us to her cell phone contacts. One name: Herman Cain.
She showed us some of her cell phone bills that included 61 phone calls or text messages to or from a number starting with 678. She says it is Herman Cain’s private cell phone. The calls were made during four different months– calls or texts made as early as 4:26 in the early morning, and as late as 7:52 at night. The latest were in September of this year.
“We’ve never worked together,” said White. “And I can’t imagine someone phoning or texting me for the last two and a half years, just because.”
We texted the number and Herman Cain called us back. He told us he “knew Ginger White” but said these are “more false allegations.” He said she had his number because he was “trying to help her financially.”
She says she planned on keeping the relationship a secret while Cain made his run for the White House until she and her family watched reports of different women who had accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment. She says she was not surprised by the allegations, but was bothered by the way Cain fought back, attacking the woman, including during an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman.
“It bothered me that they were being demonized, sort of, they were treated as if they were automatically lying, and the burden of proof was on them,” White said. “I felt bad for them.”
So, there you have it. I’m not sure what to say but this will be the news cycle for the next day or so.
Update: And, here’s the video of Fox 5 Atlanta’s report that aired tonight:
Georgia Woman Claims 13-Year Affair with Herman Cain: MyFoxATLANTA.com
