Cain Flatly Denies Charges

GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain is sticking by his claim that he never sexually harassed anyone during his time as head of the National Restaurant Association.

During a heavily watched news conference in Phoenix on Tuesday, the surprise contender rebuked new public allegations from a pair of women who said that he acted inappropriately toward them while they were employees of his.

“The charges and the accusations, I absolutely reject,” Cain said. “They simply didn’t happen.”

In response to claims made yesterday by a woman named Sharon Bialek, Cain said that his first thought upon seeing her on television was “I don’t even know who this woman is.”

“I tried to remember if I recognized her and I didn’t,” he said. He added that friends tell him he’s “pretty good” at remembering people “that have made some impression on me.”

Bialek, who was let go by the organization in 1997, alleged during a televised news conference in New York that Cain had groped her in his car after a dinner meeting in which she asked him for help finding a new job.

This afternoon, a federal government employee named Karen Kraushaar told the New York Times that Cain had harassed her while she worked under him. Before going public, Kraushaar had been previously identified by Politico as one of two female employees that received cash settlements as part of agreements to leave the company.

Cain said that he did recall the complaint lodged against him by Kraushaar, but denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Cain said that he had commented once to his accuser that she was the same height as his wife, Gloria. He held his hand flat out against his chin to demonstrate the gesture that he says made Kraushaar feel uncomfortable.

According to Cain, his wife of more than four decades isn’t buying any of the charges.

“I have known you for 46 years,” Cain said she told him. “That doesn’t even sound like anything you would ever do to anyone.”

Cain broadly accused the “Democrat machine” of creating the scandal, but sidestepped efforts by reporters to get him to clarify his assertion.

He then vowed to press on with his campaign.

“I will not be deterred by false accusations,” he defiantly proclaimed. “Ain’t gonna happen.”