Calling it "the saddest day of my life," Sen. Brock Adams, D-Wash., announced he will abandon his re-election campaign and never again run for public office, following disclosures by eight unnamed women that he sexually harassed or assaulted them.
Adams denied the allegations, calling them "hypothetical" and part of a "vendetta" against him put forth by "shoddy journalism," although later he said he was sure there were things in his life he was sorry for having done."I have devoted over 31 years of my life to public service and I care for people and I have never harmed anyone, but I find now it is not worth it to continue this campaign because of what it does to my family, myself, my supporters, my superb staff. Therefore I will not continue to campaign."
His announcement Sunday afternoon followed a published report in The Seattle Times detailing allegations by eight women, none of whom were named, accusing Adams of a range of sexual harassment and abuse.
While maintaining the article was "politically motivated," Adams repeatedly answered "I don't know" to questions of whether he thought Republicans, Democrats or specific political enemies of his were behind the story.
"It is not an admission of anything," Adams said of his decision to end his re-election bid.
Adams was appointed a U.S. attorney by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1962, was transportation secretary under President Jimmy Carter and was elected to the Senate in 1986.
Adams said he would not resign his seat and did not expect any action against him by his fellow senators. He said he would continue to work hard through the end of his term next January.
According to The Seattle Times report, one woman, said to be a former Democratic Party activist, said she was raped by Adams in the early 1970s.
The woman said she met Adams, then a congressman, at a bar at his request. She said she had a drink and, after she told Adams she had a cold, he gave her two pills which he said were Vitamin C.
But the woman said she felt increasingly strange and, after two hours, Adams followed her home, where she said Adams raped her and left $200 on a table.
The other seven women did not say they were raped but alleged varying degrees of sexual harassment from Adams, and most reported a similar pattern: being given a drink containing either dissolved pills or a sickly sweet-smelling pink liquid that, when taken, caused them to become drowsy and faint.
The experiences closely resembled the 1988 allegations of Kari Tupper, a former Adams aide and the daughter of longtime Seattle friends of Adams, who claimed he drugged her and fondled her at his Washington, D.C., townhouse while his wife was out of town.
Tupper reported the incident to police, but after an investigation authorities declined to file charges. When Tupper told her story in a sensational series of media forums, Adams went public with an equally vehement denial.
The Times said its story was the result of four years of work, begun when several women called reporters to say their experiences with Adams convinced them Tupper's story was true.
The women all spoke to the newspaper on condition their names wouldn't be published. Seven of them have signed statements attesting to the truth of their stories and are prepared to testify in court if Adams sues the Times, and the eighth is close to signing, the newspaper said.
Adams said, "I was horrified that was an article that was created out of whole cloth by people who hate me and I don't know why they do."
He said he was completely surprised at the disclosure, even though Tupper supporters had vowed in 1988 to dog him if he chose to seek re-election.
"It is a surprise to me because I did not expect to have any kind of thing like this happen to anybody, but that's the way it is now."
Both Adams' wife, Betty, and daughter, Cokey, defended the senator.
"In this negative political climate, you can expect anything," Betty Adams said. "I think it's too bad, becausee I think a lot of people will not run for public office because of things like this.
"I have been married to Brock for 40 years and the picture you have in this article is not my husband."
"I think it's a shame that the press would come forward with an anonymous story like this," said Cokey Adams. "It's a loss to the state and the women of this country, for all he's done for health care and on abortion."