Lawyer Calls Conyers' Accuser An 'Opportunist'

DETROIT, MI – Congressman John Coyners, under fire for a string of sexual misconduct allegations, will confer with doctors and those around him before making a decision whether he will step down from his seat, said his lawyer on Friday. However, the decision whether to leave Congress will not be based on accusations against him or pressure from his fellow lawmakers.

Arnold Reed, a Detroit attorney representing Conyers, told media on Friday that Conyers is undergoing a second round of tests after being hospitalized on Thursday morning for a stress-related condition.

"His health is not the best," said Reed at the press briefing outside the lawmaker's Detroit home.

The press conference was in response to several appearances made by Marion Brown, a former staff member of Conyers and claims the congressman behaved inappropriately around her, and calls from other lawmakers that he resign his seat in the House of Representatives.

"It will be Congressman John Conyers who will decide" if he continues to serve in the House, Reed said.

Reed also reiterated Conyers' denial of accusations of sexual misconduct made by Brown and other staff members against the lawmaker. Brown, who went public with her story on Thursday before a nationwide audience on NBC's "Today" show, is an "opportunist," Reed said.

Brown not only worked for Conyers for 11 years, Reed said, she also had her daughter and another female family working in Conyers office. Why, he asked, would she allow her family members to work in such a situation if it was dangerous.

"It defies logic," Reed said. He also presented statements from a security guard and another ex-employee who said they did not see sexual harassment take place.

Conyers "asserts that he has done nothing wrong and he will continue to defend himself," Reed said. "He has not sexually assaulted anyone."

As media gathered outside Conyers' home in Detroit, a couple of people in cars honked their horns shouted at the media gathered to leave the lawmaker alone. Conyers, 88, has served in the House since 1964.

Several House colleagues, including Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as other Democrats, have called on Conyers to resign his seat.

In her NBC interview, Brown said Conyers "violated my body, he's touched me in different ways. It was very uncomfortable and very unprofessional." While they were in Chicago for an event in 2005, she said they were alone in a hotel room and he undressed down to his underwear, Brown said during the interview. "He asked me to satisfy to him sexually. He pointed to genital areas of his body and asked me to touch him."

Brown is the same person referenced by online news outlet BuzzFeed News, which last week reported that Conyers had settled a complaint in 2015 from a woman on his staff who alleged she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances.

Photo: John Conyers, D-Mich., during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)