News Corp.’s tablet publication The Daily on Tuesday became the first publication to reveal the name of one of the women to accuse Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment — and other outlets quickly followed suit.
Her name spread as Cain, who had earlier vowed to stop talking about the matter, lashed out at the first woman who went public with her accusations. In an interview with ABC and Yahoo News! Tuesday, Cain deemed all allegations of miscondunct "baseless, bogus and false."
On Monday, Sharon Bialek stepped forward in a press conference with Gloria Allred, becoming the first public face of the charges and contributing a fourth case of alleged sexual harassment on the part of the GOP presidential nominee.
On Tuesday, The Daily named Karen Kraushaar as a potential victim.
Journalists had been protecting the names of Cain’s first two accusers since Politico uncovered their allegations on Oct. 31, but a pair of reporters from the Daily broke that silence.
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Kraushaar, who is the communications director at the Inspector General’s Office of the Treasury Department, was a spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Assn. from 1998 to 1999, when Cain was heading the lobbying firm.
In the Politico story, which claimed to have a half-dozen sources, the women complained of incidents that “include conversations allegedly filled with innuendo or personal questions of a sexually suggestive nature, taking place at hotels during conferences, at other officially-sanctioned restaurant association events and at the association’s offices. There were also descriptions of physical gestures that were not overtly sexual but that made women who experienced or witnessed them uncomfortable and that they regarded as improper in a professional relationship.”
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The scandal now includes four different women claiming the Republican presidential candidate either said something inappropriate, made unwanted advances or both.
After the Politico story identified two potential victims, the Associated press uneartherd a third and then Bialek stepped forward.
She said that Cain placed his hand underneath her skirt, reaching for her genitals, and also moved her head towards his crotch, asking When she resisted, he said “You want a job, right?”
Prior to Bialek's press conference, the women had refused to be identified and news organizations respected their desire for privacy.
That has not stopped them from aggressively covering the allegations, prompting Cain to respond.
The political outsider turned serious candidate has repeatedly denied everything, and Tuesday he continued that stance in his interview with ABC.
"I reject all accusations. I don’t remember that and also, I don’t remember knowing her," Cain said of Bialek and her accusations. Earlier in the day, his campaign went right after Bialek's credibility, sending out an email questioning her motives. It urged people to examine her financial records and history of filing civil lawsuits.
The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday that Bialek has twice filed for personal bankruptcy, but her finances appear to be in order at the moment.
Details have begun to emerge about Kraushaar as well. Among the facts reported — she lives in Maryland, has been riding horses throughout her life and has scoliosis.
Once the Daily broke the story about Krausahaar, several other publications jumped into the naming spree.
More conservative outlets like the Daily Caller and New York Post immediately labeled Kraushaar as an Obama administration employee even though The Daily story suggests she is a Republican.