John Conyers | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2013 | |
| 44thDean of the United States House of Representatives | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – December 5, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | John Dingell |
| Succeeded by | Don Young |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan | |
| In office January 3, 1965 – December 5, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | District established (redistricting) |
| Succeeded by | Brenda Jones |
| Constituency | 1st district (1965–1993) 14th district (1993–2013) 13th district (2013–2017) |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2011 – December 5, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Lamar Smith |
| Succeeded by | Jerry Nadler |
| In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Hamilton Fish IV |
| Succeeded by | Lamar Smith |
| Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Sensenbrenner |
| Succeeded by | Lamar Smith |
| Chair of theHouse Oversight Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Brooks |
| Succeeded by | William F. Clinger Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John James Conyers Jr. (1929-05-16)May 16, 1929 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 2019(2019-10-27) (aged 90) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Socialists of America |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Ian Conyers (grand-nephew) |
| Education | Wayne State University (BA,LLB) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1948–1950 1950–1957 |
| Unit | Army National Guard |
| Battles/wars | Korean War |
John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929 – October 27, 2019) was an American politician of theDemocratic Party who served as aU.S. representative fromMichigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was thesixth-longest serving member of Congress and the longest-serving African American member of Congress in history.
After serving in theKorean War, Conyers became active in thecivil rights movement. He also served as an aide to CongressmanJohn Dingell before winningelection to the House in 1964. He co-founded theCongressional Black Caucus in 1969 and established a reputation as one of the mostleft-wing members of Congress. Conyers joined theCongressional Progressive Caucus after it was founded in 1991. Conyers supported creation of asingle-payer healthcare system and sponsored theUnited States National Health Care Act. He also sponsored a bill to establishMartin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday, and was the first congressperson to introducelegislation in support ofreparations for the descendants ofAfrican American slavery.
Conyers ran forMayor of Detroit in 1989 and 1993, but he was defeated in the primary both times. He served as theranking Democratic member on theHouse Committee on the Judiciary from 1995 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2017. He served as chairman of that committee from 2007 to 2011 and as chairman of theHouse Oversight Committee from 1989 to 1995. As the longest-serving current member of Congress, Conyers was thedean of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. By November 2017, he was the last remaining member of Congress who had served since thepresidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. In the wake of allegations that he hadsexually harassed female staff members and secretly used taxpayer money to settle a harassment claim, Conyers resigned from Congress on December 5, 2017.
Conyers was born and raised inDetroit, the son of Lucille Janice (Simpson) and John James Conyers, a labor leader.[1] Among his siblings was younger brother William Conyers. After graduating fromNorthwestern High School, Conyers served in theMichigan National Guard from 1948 to 1950; theU.S. Army from 1950 to 1954; and theU.S. Army Reserves from 1954 to 1957. Conyers served for a year in Korea during theKorean War as an officer in theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was awarded combat and merit citations.[2]
After his active military service, Conyers pursued a college education. He earned both hisBA (1957) andLL.B. (1958) degrees fromWayne State University. After he was admitted to the bar, he worked on the staff of CongressmanJohn Dingell. He also served as counsel to several Detroit-arealabor union locals. From 1961 to 1963, he was a referee for Michigan's workmen's compensation department.[3]
Conyers became one of the leaders of thecivil rights movement. He was present inSelma, Alabama, on October 7, 1963, for the voter registration drive known as Freedom Day.[4]
In 1964, Conyers ran for an open seat in what was then the 1st District, and defeated Republican Robert Blackwell with 84% of the vote.[5] He was reelected 13 times with even larger margins. After the1990 United States census, Michigan lost a congressional district, and there was redistricting. Conyers's district was renumbered as the14th district.[6]
In 1992, Conyers won re-election to his 15th term in his new district, which included western suburbs of Detroit, with 82% of the vote against Republican nominee John Gordon.[7] He won re-election another nine times after that. His worst re-election performance was in2010, when he got 77% of the vote against Republican nomineeDon Ukrainec.[8] In 2013, his district was renamed as the13th district.
In total, Conyers won re-election twenty-five times and was serving in his twenty-sixth term. He was thedean of the House as longest-serving current member, thethird longest-serving member of the House in history, and thesixth longest-serving member of Congress in history. He was the second-longest serving member of either house of Congress in Michigan's history, trailing only his former boss, Dingell. He was also the last member of the large Democratic freshman class of 1964 who was still serving in the House.[9]
In May 2014, Wayne County clerk Cathy Garrett determined that Conyers had not submitted enough valid nominating petition signatures to appear on the August 2014 primary election ballot.[10] Two of his workers circulating petitions were not themselves registered voters at the time, which was required under Michigan law. But on May 23, federal district judge Matthew Leitman issued an injunction placing Conyers back on the ballot, ruling that the requirement that circulators be registered voters was similar to an Ohio law which had been found unconstitutional in 2008 by a Federal appeals court.[11] The Michigan secretary of state's office subsequently announced they would not appeal the ruling.[12]
Conyers was one of the 13 founding members of theCongressional Black Caucus (CBC) and was considered the Dean of that group. Formed in 1969, the CBC was founded to strengthen African American lawmakers' ability to address the legislative concerns of Black and minority citizens. He served longer in Congress than any other African American. In 1971, he was one of the original members ofNixon's enemies list.[13]
In 1965, Conyers won a seat as a freshman on the influentialJudiciary Committee, which was then chaired by Democratic CongressmanEmanuel Celler of New York. The assignment was considered an elite one, as Judiciary ranked behind onlyWays and Means andAppropriations in terms of the number of Members who sought assignment there.[14]
According to theNational Journal, Conyers has been considered, withPete Stark,John Lewis,Jim McDermott, andBarbara Lee, to be one of the mostliberal members of Congress for many years.Rosa Parks, known for her prominent role in theMontgomery, Alabama bus boycott, moved to Detroit and served on Conyers's staff between 1965 and 1988.[15]
Conyers was known to have opposed regulation ofonline gambling. He opposed theUnlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.[16] After theassassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Conyers introduced the first bill in Congress to make King's birthday a federal holiday.[13] He continued to propose legislation to establish the federal holiday in every session of Congress from 1968 to 1983, whenMartin Luther King Jr. Day was finallysigned into law by PresidentRonald Reagan.[17]
In 1983 he joined with 7 other congressional representatives to sponsor a resolution toimpeach Ronald Reagan over his sudden and unexpectedinvasion of Grenada.[18]
According toThe New Republic, Conyers was a member of theDemocratic Socialists of America in 1983.[19]
Conyers introduced the "Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act" (H.R. 3745) in January 1989. He re-introduced this bill each congressional term. It calls for establishing a commission to research thehistory ofslavery in the United States and its effects on current society, which is to recommend ways to remedy this injustice against African Americans. The current version was introduced and referred to committee on January 3, 2013.[20][21] Conyers first introduced the proposed resolution in 1989, and has stated his intention to annually propose this act until it is approved and passed. Since 1997, the bill has been designated "H.R. 40", most recently,H.R. 40, alluding to the promise of "forty acres and a mule".[22] If passed, the commission would explore the longstanding effects of slavery on today's society, politics, and economy.
"My bill does four things: It acknowledges the fundamental injustice and inhumanity of slavery; It establishes a commission to study slavery, its subsequent racial and economic discrimination against freed slaves; It studies the impact of those forces on today's living African Americans; and the commission would then make recommendations to Congress on appropriate remedies to redress the harm inflicted on living African Americans."[23]
Conyers served as the ranking Democratic member on the House Committee on the Judiciary from 1995 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2017. He served as chairman of that committee from 2007 to 2011 and as chairman of the House Oversight Committee from 1989 to 1995. As the longest-serving current member of Congress, Conyers was the dean of the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017.[citation needed]
In March 2016, Rep. Conyers and RepresentativeHank Johnson introduced legislation to protect consumers' access to civil courts. The bill was entitled the "Restoring Statutory Rights Act".[24][better source needed]
Conyers served more than 50 years in Congress, becoming thesixth-longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history; he was the longest-serving African American member of Congress.[25] By November 2017, Conyers was the last remaining member of Congress who had served since thepresidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.[26]
Conyers was critical of PresidentRichard Nixon during his tenure. He was listed as number 13 on PresidentNixon's enemies list during the president's 1969–74 presidential tenure. The president's chief counsel described him as "coming on fast", and said he was "emerging" as a "black anti-Nixon spokesman".[27][28] Conyers, who voted toimpeach Nixon in July 1974,[29] wrote at the time,
My analysis of the evidence clearly reveals an Administration so trapped by its own war policy and a desire to remain in office that it entered into an almost unending series of plans for spying, burglary and wiretapping, inside this country and against its own citizens, and without precedent in American history.[30]
In 2003, Conyers introduced H.R. 676, theUnited States National Health Insurance Act (Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) with 25 cosponsors[31] and reintroduced it each session since. As of 2015, it had 49 cosponsors. The act calls for the creation of a universalsingle-payer health care system in the United States, in which the government would provide every resident health care free of charge. To eliminate disparate treatment between richer and poorer Americans, the Act would prohibit private insurers from covering any treatment or procedure already covered by the Act.[32]
Conyers was one of theHouse impeachment managers who prosecuted the in case theimpeachment trial of JudgeAlcee Hastings. Hastings was found guilty by theUnited States Senate and removed from his federal judgeship.[33]
On May 5, 2005, Conyers and 88 other members of Congress wrote an open letter to the White House inquiring about theDowning Street memo. This was a leaked memorandum that revealed an apparent secret agreement between the Bush administration and theSecond Blair ministry toinvade Iraq in 2002.The Times, among the first to publish news of the leak, wrote that the discovered documented revealed the intentions of Bush andBlair to invade Iraq, along with revealing that the two had "discussed creating pretextual justifications for doing so."[34]
The memo story broke in the United Kingdom, but did not receive much coverage in the United States. Conyers said: "This should not be allowed to fall down the memory hole during wall-to-wall coverage of theMichael Jackson trial and arunaway bride."[35] Conyers and others reportedly considered sending a congressional investigation delegation to London.[34]
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In May 2005, Conyers released a report aboutvoting irregularities in the state ofOhio during the2004 U.S. presidential election calledWhat Went Wrong in Ohio: The Conyers Report On The 2004 Presidential Election. Some of the claims in the report pertaining tovoter suppression tend to have been supported, including through court cases. Some of the claims pertaining to manipulation of the count and similarelection fraud have been refuted.[36] Consequently this report should be considered a representation of a minority view.
The report included the following claims:[37][38]
While some courts before the election found that certain restrictive voting policies of Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell were illegal,[40] claims of voter and machine fraud swaying the election have not achieved mainstream acceptance,[36] and several have been refuted.[41][42]
Conyers was one of 31 members of the House who voted not to count the 20electoral votes fromOhio in the2004 presidential election.[43] The state was won by Republican president George Bush by 118,457 votes.[44]
On August 4, 2006, Conyers released his report,The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retributions and Cover-ups in the Iraq War, an edited collection of information intended to serve as evidence that theBush administration alteredintelligence to justify the2003 invasion of Iraq.[45]
The Constitution in Crisis examines much of the evidence presented by the Bush administration prior to the invasion and questions the credibility of their sources of intelligence. In addition, the document investigates conditions that led to thetorture scandal atAbu Ghraib prison in Iraq, as well as further evidence oftorture having been committed but not made known to the public. Finally, the document reports on a series of "smear tactics" purportedly used by the administration in dealing with its political adversaries. The document calls for thecensure of PresidentGeorge W. Bush and Vice PresidentDick Cheney. Conyers refused to backimpeachment proceedings, however.[46]
Conyers proposed House Resolution 288, which condemns "religious intolerance" and emphasizesIslam as needing special protection from acts of violence and intolerance. It states that "it should never be official policy of the United States Government to disparage theQuran, Islam, or any religion in any way, shape, or form," and "calls upon local, State, and Federal authorities to work to preventbias-motivated crimes and acts against all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith." The bill was referred to the House subcommittee on the Constitution in June 2005.[47]
In 2005, Conyers introduced House Resolution 160, a house resolution that would have condemned the conduct ofNarendra Modi, then thechief minister of theState of Gujarat in India. The resolution was cosponsored by Republican representativeJoseph R. Pitts (Republican of Pennsylvania). The resolution's title was: "Condemning the conduct of Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his actions to incite religious persecution and urging the United States to condemn all violations ofreligious freedom in India." The resolution cited a 2004United States Commission on International Religious Freedom report on Modi stating that he was "widely accused of being reluctant to bring the perpetrators of the killings of Muslims and non-Hindus to justice". (See2002 Gujarat riots.) The resolution was not adopted.[48]
In April 2006 Conyers, together with ten other seniorcongressmen, filed an action in theU.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, challenging the constitutionality of theDeficit Reduction Act of 2005. The complaint alleged thebill was not afforded due consideration by theUnited States Congress before being signed by the President.[49] The action was subsequently dismissed on grounds of lack ofstanding.[50]
Conyers repeatedly introduced theFair Copyright in Research Works Act, a bill that would overturn theNIH Public Access Policy, anopen-access mandate of theNational Institutes of Health. Conyers's bill would forbid the government from mandating that federally funded research be made freely available to the public.[51] The legislation was supported by the publishing industry,[52] and opposed by groups such as theElectronic Frontier Foundation.[53] WritersLawrence Lessig andMichael Eisen accused Conyers of being influenced by publishing houses, who have contributed significant money to his campaigns.[54]
On January 13, 2009, the House Committee on the Judiciary, led by Conyers, releasedReining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush, a 486-page report detailing alleged abuses of power that occurred during theBush administration, and a comprehensive set of recommendations to prevent recurrence. Conyers introduced a bill to set up a "truth commission" panel to investigate alleged policy abuses of the Bush administration.[55][56]
In late July 2009, Conyers, commenting on thehealthcare debate in theHouse, stated: "I love these members, they get up and say, 'Read the bill' ... What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?" His remark brought criticism fromgovernment transparency advocates such as theSunlight Foundation, which referred to readthebill.org[57] in response.[58]
In October, Conyers responded to allegations from four Republican Congress Members, in the wake of the launch of the bookMuslim Mafia, that theCouncil on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sought to plant Muslim "spies" inCapitol Hill. He strongly opposed the accusations, saying:
It shouldn't need to be said in 2009, and after the historic election of our first African-American president, but let me remind all my colleagues that patriotic Americans of all races, religions, and beliefs have the right – and the responsibility – to participate in our political process, including by volunteering to work in Congressional offices. Numerous Muslim-American interns have served the House ably and they deserve our appreciation and respect, not attacks on their character or patriotism.[59]
At a December 16, 2010, hearing of theHouse Judiciary Committee on the subject of "theEspionage Act and the Legal andConstitutional Issues Raised byWikiLeaks",[60] Conyers "argue[d] strongly against prosecuting WikiLeaks in haste – or at all."[61] He strongly defended thewhistleblowing organization, saying:
As an initial matter, there is no doubt that WikiLeaks is very unpopular right now. Many feel that the WikiLeaks publication was offensive. But being unpopular is not a crime, and publishing offensive information is not either. And the repeated calls from politicians, journalists, and other so-called experts crying out for criminal prosecutions or other extreme measures make me very uncomfortable. Indeed, when everyone inthis town is joined together calling for someone's head, that is it a pretty strong sign we need to slow down and take a closer look. ... [L]et us not be hasty, and let us not legislate in a climate of fear or prejudice. For, in such an atmosphere, it is ourconstitutional freedoms and our cherishedcivil rights that are the first to be sacrificed in the false service of ournational security.[61]
Conyers's statement was "in marked contrast to the repeated calls from other members ofCongress andObama administration officials to prosecute WikiLeaks headJulian Assange immediately."[61]
In 2014, Conyers, along withTed Yoho, introduced a bipartisan amendment to theNational Defense Authorization Act which would prohibit theUnited States Armed Forces from providing any form of assistance to theAzov Battalion, aNational Guard of Ukraine unit accused by Conyers of being a "far-rightwhite supremacist militia". The amendment was subsequently passed by the House of Representatives in 2015. Conyers' decision to introduce the amendment was the subject of both praise and criticism, with detractors noting that claiming that large numbers ofNeo-Nazis are members of the Azov Battalion is a common theme ofpropaganda in Russia.[62][63]
Conyers stated, "If there's one simple lesson we can take away from U.S. involvement in conflicts overseas, it's this: Beware of unintended consequences. As was made vividly clear with U.S. involvement inAfghanistan duringthe Soviet invasion decades ago, overzealous military assistance or the hyper-weaponization of conflicts can have destabilizing consequences and ultimately undercut our own national interests."[64] He also voiced concerns about sendinganti-aircraft missiles toSyrian rebels.[65]
While serving in the U.S. House, Conyers made two unsuccessful runs formayor of Detroit: one in 1989 against incumbentColeman Young and again in 1993.[75]
Incumbent Democratic mayor Coleman Young decided to run for a fifth term, despite growing unpopularity and the declining economy of Detroit. In the September primary, Young won with 51% of the vote. Accountant Tom Barrow qualified for the November run-off by having 24%, and Conyers received 18% of the vote.[76] Despite the difficulties of the city, Young defeated Barrow in the run-off with 56% of the vote.[77]
In June 1993, incumbent Democratic mayor Coleman Young decided to retire instead of seeking a sixth term, citing his age and health. Many observers believed he had decided not to test his growing unpopularity. In aDetroit News poll in February, 81% said Young should retire.[78] Conyers was one of the 23 candidates who qualified for ballot access.[79]
Dennis Archer was the front runner in the mayoral campaign from the beginning. The 51-year-old formerstate supreme court justice raised over $1.6 million to finance his campaign. He won the September primary with 54% of the vote. Conyers came in fourth place.[80] Archer won the November election.
In April 2006, theFBI and the U.S. attorney's office sent independent letters to theHouse Ethics Committee, saying two former aides of Conyers had alleged that Conyers used his staff to work on several local and state campaigns of other politicians – includinghis wife – for theDetroit City Council. (She won a seat in 2005.) He also forced them to baby-sit and chauffeur his children.[81][82]
In late December 2006, Conyers "accepted responsibility" for violating House rules. A statement issued December 29, 2006, by the House Ethics Committee chairmanDoc Hastings and ranking minority memberHoward Berman, said Conyers acknowledged what he characterized as a "lack of clarity" in his communications with staff members regarding their official duties and responsibilities, and accepted responsibility for his actions.[83]
In deciding to drop the matter, Hastings and Berman said:
After reviewing the information gathered during the inquiry, and in light of Representative Conyers's cooperation with the inquiry, we have concluded that this matter should be resolved through the issuance of this public statement and the agreement by Representative Conyers to take a number of additional, significant steps to ensure that his office complies with all rules and standards regarding campaign and personal work by congressional staff.[83]
In 2015, a former employee of Conyers alleged that he hadsexually harassed her and dismissed her. She filed an affidavit with theCongressional Office of Compliance.[84] Conyers had entered into aconfidentiality agreement with the former employee and had paid her a $27,000 (~$34,813 in 2024) settlement from his publicly funded office budget in 2015.[85]BuzzFeed reported on the allegations and settlement on November 20, 2017;Buzzfeed also reported allegations that Conyers "repeatedly made sexual advances to female staff," caressed female staffers' hands in a sexual manner, and rubbed their backs and legs in public.[86][87][88]
On November 21, 2017, Conyers issued a statement in which he said, "In our country, we strive to honor this fundamental principle that all are entitled to due process. In this case, I expressly and vehemently denied the allegations made against me, and continue to do so. My office resolved the allegations – with an express denial of liability – in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation."[89]
Also on November 21, 2017, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations against Conyers.[90]
On November 22, 2017,The Washington Post reported thatMelanie Sloan, founder ofCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), publicly accused Conyers of having harassed andverbally abused her during her tenure working for the House Judiciary Committee. On one occasion, Sloan alleged that Conyers had summoned to his office, where she found him sitting in his underwear; she quickly departed.[91]
Later in November 2017, there were reports that another woman accused Conyers of sexual harassment.[92] House minority leaderNancy Pelosi, who had initially stated that Conyers was an "icon" and had done a great deal to protect women,[93] called upon Conyers to resign. She said the allegations against him were "very credible".[94]
On December 5, 2017, aged 88, Conyers resigned his House seat because of his mounting sexual scandals.[95] The announcement came the day after another former staffer released an affidavit accusing Conyers of sexual harassment.[96] The same day, an article byThe Washington Post published allegations by Courtney Morse that Conyers had threatened her with a similar fate to that ofChandra Levy, a staffer found murdered in a park in Washington, DC. She said that after she rejected his advances, he "said he had insider information on the case. I don't know if he meant it to be threatening, but I took it that way."[97]
At a time when theMeToo movement was pushing for action against men who harassed women, some media and supporters in Detroit believed Conyers had been unfairly treated.[98] He was reported as the "first sitting politician to be ousted from office in the wake of the #MeToo movement."[99]
Conyers marriedMonica Esters, a teacher in Detroit, in 1990. She was 25 and he was 61; they had two sons together, John James III and Carl Edward Conyers.[100] Monica Conyers served as vice administrator of Detroit's public schools, and in 2005 was elected to the Detroit City Council.[citation needed] Monica Conyers pleaded guilty to bribery charges on June 26, 2009[101] and served slightly more than 27 months in prison;[102] her sentence was completed on May 16, 2013.[103] In September 2015, Monica Conyers filed for divorce, citing a "breakdown of the marriage".[104] However, the Conyers' reconciled in late 2016.[105]
Conyers's grandnephew,Ian Conyers, was elected to theMichigan Senate in 2016.[106] He generated controversy by telling of Conyers's planned retirement in interviews before the congressman announced it himself, and claiming his great-uncle's endorsement.[107] Following the congressman's resignation, Ian Conyers announced that he would run in the special election for the congressman's seat. The congressman instead endorsed his son, John Conyers III, as his successor.[108] John Conyers III chose not to run. Ian Conyers was defeated in the Democratic primary byRashida Tlaib.[109]
Conyers died at his home in Detroit on October 27, 2019, at the age of 90.[110] Helied in state on November 2 and November 3 at theCharles H. Wright Museum of African American History.[111][112][113] His funeral was held on November 4 at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple, withMichael Eric Dyson and former U.S. presidentBill Clinton joining his family in providing eulogies.[114][115] Rev.Jesse Jackson and Michigan governorGretchen Whitmer, and various members of the U.S. Congress spoke at the funeral as well.[114][116]
In 2007, Conyers was awarded theSpingarn Medal from theNAACP.[117][118][119][120]
Before long, the mainstream apparatus had moved on.
When it came to Conyers, staff members said doing errands and babysitting were only the half of it. Conyers, they told CNN, regularly used his congressional staff to work on other politicians' campaigns. Chief among them, the campaign of his very own wife, Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers.
Conyers ... reportedly settled a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015 after a former employee accused him of firing her for resisting his 'sexual advances' ... Conyers's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
Maher claimed that there were three instances of inappropriate conduct. The first was allegedly in 1997, when she reportedly rejected his offer to share a hotel room and have sex.
This makes Conyers just the latest politician to fall to the #MeToo movement
Conyers is the first sitting politician ousted from office in the wake of the #MeToo movement
Media from Commons
Quotations from WikiquoteArticles
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 1st congressional district 1965–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 14th congressional district 1993–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 13th congressional district 2013–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Oversight Committee 1989–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Judiciary Committee 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Dean of the United States House of Representatives 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Most seniorDemocrat in theU.S. House of Representatives 2015–2017 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
