(Eric Thayer/Reuters)
MSNBC:
A high-profile defamation lawyer retained by Republican presidential contender Herman Cain said Thursday that he was not hired to scare, intimidate or threaten anyone from making statements, but to monitor accusations and respond accordingly.
"Mr. Cain is being tried in the court of public opinion based on accusations that are improbable and vague," Atlanta attorney Lin Wood told The Associated Press. "The media — bless your heart — you turn our system of justice into one of guilt by accusation."
The accusations are "vague"? What's vague here? He was accused of sexually assaulting a woman by attempting to force her to give him a blow job. If that's "vague," I really don't want to hear the more specific version. You want that kind of crap, go find Ken Starr.
I think the press has covered the story pretty much the only way it can be covered. It's been very clear that Cain is accused of doing these things, not convicted of them, but what would Wood have the press do? According to his logic, the only fair treatment of Cain would be for the press to not report the accusations against him at all. Oh, how politicians all across America wish it could work out that way.
In general, Wood said, anyone considering making public accusations of wrongdoing against another person should carefully consider the wisdom and potential consequences in taking such action.
"Anyone should think twice before you take that type of action," Wood said.
So Wood was not hired to intimidate anyone, but people who want to accuse his client should watch what they say. Of course.
Frankly, the Cain camp has been doing its best to both intimidate potential accusers and to "try them in the court of public opinion." The first public accuser was met with a flurry of counter-accusations: Maybe she was having money troubles, or maybe some crackpot had an electronic gizmo that, surprise surprise, determined there was stress in her voice during her press conference. The Cain camp mounted an online ad campaign in order to discredit her. Yeah, I'll say that's pretty intimidating.
Having one complaint of sexual harassment (with a cash settlement, no less) is cause enough to cover the story. Having four (or is it five, now?) gives the allegations a lot more credence, and rightly makes reporters want to get to the bottom of it. So far Cain's only defense is that there is a conspiracy against him, that the National Restaurant Association settled with one accuser for no good reason, and they're probably all crazy or something. Sorry, but that's not enough to make the allegations disappear.