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A woman said Monday that she engaged in an affair with Herman Cain that began in the 1990s, continued as he flew her from city to city for dates, and ended eight months ago.
In an interview, Ginger White offered details of a thirteen-year relationship with Mr. Cain, sharing phone records that showed calls and text messages from his number.
Ms. White said she decided to come forward because she feared the affair would be uncovered to reporters by someone who knew of the relationship.
“I’m not proud. I didn’t want to come out with this. I did not,” said White, who described the relationship with Mr. Cain as taking her away from her “humdrum life.”
“It was pretty simple. It wasn’t complicated. I was aware that he was married. I was also aware I was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship,” she said.
Before the first harassment allegations were published, polls showed him leading the Republican race. Over the past month, it has been reported that four women accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment while he headed the National Restaurant Association.
Mr. Cain denied the allegations, although his campaign suffered as he bungled his response. First, Mr. Cain refused to acknowledge that harassment allegations were filed against him. He later “recalled” accusations but said they were all “baseless.”
Since then, he has fallen to 17% in CNN’s latest poll, compared with 20% for Mitt Romney and 24% for Newt Gingrich.
“I know that the court of public opinion is going to formulate its own opinion,” he told CNN. “I can’t control people who are going to make a decision based upon accusations.”
Ms. White said in the television interview that she met Mr. Cain in the late 1990s at a meeting in Louisville, when he was president of the restaurant association. They had drinks, she said, and he invited her to his hotel room, where he pulled out a calendar and suggested that she meet him in Palm Springs, California.
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