Another Awful Filner Allegation: He Hit on a Disabled Iraq Vet's Nurse
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner began two weeks of intensive therapy yesterday in an effort to cure himself of a now infamous tendency to sexually harass practically any woman within grabbing distance. At last count, nine women (at least) had accused Filner of behaving inappropriately with them over the years. Today comes news of yet another harassment charge being leveled against the former 10-term Democratic congressman, and, well, it's a doozy.
Reports the Voice of San Diego:
Marine veteran Katherine Ragazzino choked up during a Tuesday press conference as she recalled a June meeting with Mayor Bob Filner in his office. Ragazzino and her nurse, Michelle Tyler, alleged that Filner isolated Tyler after the meeting and repeatedly asked her on a date, implying a quid-pro-quo to help Ragazzino.
"I don’t appreciate being used as a bargaining chip to fulfill his sexual desires," Ragazzino said of the mayor.
These new allegations are prima facie hideous, but they're made all the more so by the fact that Filner has spent a significant part of his career in the service of veterans, having once worked as the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Attorney Gloria Allred, who is now representing Filner accuser Irene McCormack Jackson, the mayor's former communications director, said in a press conference yesterday that the public deserves to know what kind of treatment Filner is undergoing. "I would like to know what kind of therapy he is seeking help for and I think the people of San Diego have a right to know," she said.
[Image via AP]