{"id":2154,"date":"2017-11-26T12:07:48","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T17:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=2154"},"modified":"2017-11-26T12:07:48","modified_gmt":"2017-11-26T17:07:48","slug":"mtp-exclusive-pelosi-defends-conyers-as-an-icon-in-our-country-on-if-she-believes-the-accusers-thats-for-the-ethics-committee-to-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2017\/11\/26\/mtp-exclusive-pelosi-defends-conyers-as-an-icon-in-our-country-on-if-she-believes-the-accusers-thats-for-the-ethics-committee-to-review\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP EXCLUSIVE: PELOSI DEFENDS CONYERS AS \u2018AN ICON IN OUR COUNTRY,\u2019 ON IF SHE BELIEVES THE ACCUSERS: \u2018THAT\u2019S FOR THE ETHICS COMMITTEE TO REVIEW\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: Pelosi: Conyers \u201cHas Done a Great Deal to Protect Women\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Ohio Sen. Portman Supports Retroactively Making Capitol Hill\u2019s Sexual Harassment Settlements Public, Says \u201cIt\u2019s Outrageous That Taxpayers Are Asked to Pay\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Anita Hill: \u201c<\/em><\/strong>Even Today, Washington Cannot Lead the Country on This Issue\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

NOV. 26, 2017 \u2013 On \u201cMeet the Press with Chuck Todd,\u201d House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)<\/strong> exclusively defended Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) following accusations of sexual harassment, saying the 27-term congressman is \u201can icon in our country\u201d who \u201chas done a great deal to protect women.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if she believes Conyers\u2019 accusers, Pelosi told moderator Chuck Todd: \u201cI don\u2019t know who they are. Do you? They have not really come forward. That\u2019s for the Ethics Committee to review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the full interview<\/a>, including Pelosi on the re-litigation of President Clinton\u2019s actions: \u201cWhy don’t we talk, instead, about how we go forward? Nobody is proud of President Clinton’s behavior at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)<\/strong> told Todd that he would support retroactively making all of Capitol Hill\u2019s sexual harassment settlements public: \u201cIt\u2019s outrageous that taxpayers are asked to pay these settlements in the first place, and yeah, we should make transparent what has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Senate\u2019s ethics investigation into accusations against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Portman said: \u201cWe ought to get to all the facts just as in the case of John Conyers, as we talked about earlier, I hope we see action on that even this week.\u201d Watch the full interview<\/a>, including the senator\u2019s position on President Trump putting OMB Director Mulvaney as the acting chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Board.<\/p>\n

Anita Hill<\/strong>, who alleged in 1991 when Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court that he had sexually harassed her years earlier when she worked for him in various government positions, exclusively joined the broadcast this morning. Hill \u2013 now a professor at Brandeis University \u2013 shared that \u201c26 years ago, Washington wasn\u2019t ready to lead on this issue, and I\u2019m afraid even today Washington cannot lead the country on this issue.\u201d She added: \u201cI can\u2019t say that I was entirely surprised with the \u201cMe Too\u201d allegations and the stories that came out of \u201cMe Too,\u201d but I am just shocked that if we cannot look at those now and see that we have a widespread problem in this country.\u201d Watch the full interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Washington Post\u2019s Michael Gerson<\/strong>, MSNBC\u2019s Hugh Hewitt<\/strong>, Demos\u2019 Heather McGhee<\/strong> and NBC News\u2019 Katy Tur<\/strong> joined the \u201cMeet the Press\u201d roundtable this morning for insight and analysis, including a discussion on sexual harassment,<\/a> in which Tur notes: \u201cWe have a very different set of standards \u2013 very clearly \u2013 for everybody else and for politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full transcript of this morning\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>MeetThePress.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more from moderator Chuck Todd throughout the week, sign up for the\u00a0\u201cFirst Read\u201d newsletter,<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe to the\u00a0\u201c1947: The Meet The Press Podcast\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for on-demand interviews.<\/p>\n

MANDATORY CREDIT: NBC NEWS\u2019 \u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n