Detroit Free Press: Conyers must go

The Detroit Free Press published an editorial calling for Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) to resign in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.

In an editorial published Tuesday, the editorial board wrote Conyers has a “long and complicated history” in Michigan and in Congress.

“He has been an undisputed hero of the civil rights movement, a legislator of uncommon influence and power, and an aging icon whose felonious wife and sometimes-wandering pace have confounded his place in history,” the editorial said.

{mosads}

“But the revelations of Conyers’ alleged sexual harassment scandal and his documented use of taxpayer dollars to bury that scandal, in violation of congressional ethics rules, is less ambiguous.”

The editorial said that is the type of behavior that can “never be tolerated in public office.”

“And it means that whatever Conyers’ legacy will eventually be, his tenure as a member of Congress must end — now,” the editorial board wrote.

“He should resign his position and allow the investigation into his behavior to unfold without the threat that it would render him, and the people he now represents, effectively voiceless.”

The Detroit Free Press wrote that it came to this conclusion with “an incredible amount of disappointment.” The editorial board lauded Conyers as someone who played a key role in issues such as voting rights and health-care reform and has been a voice for social justice and equality.