Perry denies smear campaign against Cain

Herman Cain accused rival GOP U.S. presidential hopeful Rick Perry of organizing a smear campaign to destroy his candidacy, a charge the Perry campaign denied."We now know and have been able to trace it back to the Perry campaign that stirred this up, in order to discredit me and slow us down," Cain told TheTeaParty.net supporters by phone Wednesday evening.He said members of the Perry campaign had "direct ties with Politico," which Sunday night detailed separate incidents of alleged inappropriate behavior between Cain and two women during his 1996-99 tenure as National Restaurant Association president.Cain Wednesday accused top Perry political adviser Curt Anderson of leaking details of one allegation, telling Forbes magazine he told Anderson of it in 2003 while Anderson was working for Cain's failed 2004 bid for U.S. Senate in Georgia.Cain Chief of Staff Mark Block told Fox News Channel's "Special Report" program: "The actions of the Perry campaign are despicable. Rick Perry and his campaign owe Herman Cain and his family an apology."A Perry campaign spokesman called the allegation "reckless and false." Perry, the governor of Texas, told the conservative RedState blog late Wednesday his campaign "had absolutely nothing to do with" the sexual harassment allegations and no one associated with his campaign "in any form or fashion" even knew about the allegations until they were made this week."End of story," he said.The Perry campaign earlier raised the possibility the campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was behind the allegations, which the Romney campaign also flatly denied as "not true."Anderson told The New York Times Wednesday evening he was not aware of the sexual harassment case until he read about it this week. He called on Cain to issue an apology to him."That's what needs to happen," he said.Cain pointed at Romney after The Associated Press reported a third woman had come forward alleging she experienced behavior by Cain at the restaurant association that she deemed inappropriate and unwanted. She said the behavior included a private invitation to his corporate apartment.She alleged she considered filing a complaint but ultimately did not because she began having fewer interactions with Cain.One of the two women whose sexual-harassment accusations led to a paid severance agreement plans to ask the restaurant association Thursday to let her release a statement showing her version of the alleged sexual harassment is different from Cain's, her attorney.Joel Bennett, said.The statement would not violate a confidentiality agreement she signed, Bennett told the Times. The woman will not otherwise speak publicly about her side of the story, he said.The restaurant association confirmed Bennett contacted it. An association representative directed Bennett to contact the association's outside counsel, association Senior Vice President Sue Hensley said.Separately, conservative syndicated radio talk show host Steve Deace of WHO-AM, Des Moines, Iowa, accused Cain of saying "awkward" and "inappropriate" things to two women on his staff."That is absolutely ridiculous," Cain was quoted by Politico as saying."If that was interpreted that way, it was totally a misinterpretation," Cain said. "I have been a professional. I respect women. I have never done anything like that."Deace's Web site, when reviewed by United Press International early Thursday, said he would have nothing more to say about the matter.