John Conyers, a Democratic Michigan Rep. who’s served as a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary since 1995, has stepped down from his position after sexual assault allegations surfaced, BuzzFeed reports.
CNN reports that Conyers decided to resign after many have urged him to leave his House position. After all, the ongoing investigation regarding the accusations against him is more important than anything else right now (especially since the claims involved former coworkers).
Conyers initially announced his decision to temporarily step down from the House on Nov. 26. In his official statement, he said, “I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics.”
Here’s the statement from Rep. Conyers saying he’ll step aside as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee pic.twitter.com/yxoDJvBz58
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) November 26, 2017
Cleary, Conyers’ successful career is at risk, seeing as he’s been a congressman for 27 terms (though that also means he has a lot of power that he could’ve abused); however, it seems a bit outlandish that he tries to blame these claims on an alt-right conspiracy blogger (especially since one of the women who came forward was one of his former aides).
Nevertheless, plent of folks are wondering what’s going to happen to Conyers’ role during his leave (or permanent retirement, depending on the outcome of the investigation). Thankfully, Conyers’ seat won’t be empty for long. During Conyers’ (maybe) temporary resignation, he endorsed his son, John Conyers III.
Despite the obvious nepotism, it might not be best to take recommendations from someone who is currently being accused of sexual assault and misconduct. Don’t worry, there are still plenty of qualified candidates who could take over Conyers’ duties.
Although Conyers still denies that any of these allegations are true, it’s probably best that he stepped down from his position (or at least it’s better than a certain Senate nominee who continues to campaign or the people still who blatantly support him, regardless of the accusations). Regardless, we hope that the House will keep us updated regarding this ongoing investigation.