Another woman has come forward with accusation of sexual assault against Democratic Nevada Rep. Ruben Kihuen, further complicating a widespread scandal that has so far ended political careers of major congressmen.
The unidentified woman told the Nevada Independent on Tuesday that Kihuen had repeatedly touched her in an inappropriate manner without her consent.
She also showed the local paper hundreds of suggestive text messages from the lawmaker that included such lewd comments as, “I’m sure you look even better naked.”
The text exchanges took place during the 2015 legislative session, when Kihuen was still a state senator.
The lawmaker has refused to address the woman’s remarks publicly.
“During my ten years in the Legislature, I dated several different women,” Kihuen said. “Out of respect for their privacy, I won’t discuss my communications or any other details of those relationships.”
The woman said she had never dated Kihuen and didn’t know how he would define a relationship at all.
This is the second time that a woman comes out against the Democrat, after his campaign’s finance director accused him of making similar unwanted advances during the 2016 campaign.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said then that Kihuen had to resign. Kihuen, however, refused to resign and said he would finish his first term any way.
“I do find it interesting that the DCCC, Leader Pelosi and Chairman Ben Ray Lujan — they knew about these allegations last year,” he said.
“They looked into them. They didn’t find anything, and they continued investing millions of dollars in my campaign. They went out there and campaigned for me,” he added.
Democrats have taken heavy damage in the widespread sexual assault scandal that has rocked the American politics as Senator Al Franken, a firm opponent of President Donald Trump, and Representative John Conyers were forced to resign after facing a slew of harassment charges, some of them even photographed in Franken’s case.