“Representative Kathleen Rice walked out of her party’s conference meeting on Wednesday, complaining that sexual harassment allegations against fellow Democratic Representative John Conyers were not being taken seriously. “I don’t have time for meetings that aren’t real,” Rice said. The New York congresswoman has been on the forefront of this issue, telling CNN last week, “Saying that we’re going to have these allegations against politicians go before an ethics committee that can sometimes take a couple of years, no offense to my colleagues who are on the ethics committee, that’s not real. That’s not real. And that’s not accountability.”

By accusing the party leadership of dawdling on Conyers’s case, Rice has widened the divide among Democrats about handling sexual harassment complaints in their midst. The rift is partly but not entirely along generational lines. While House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has defended Conyers as an “icon” who is “entitled to due process,” younger members of Congress like Rice and Representative Pramila Jayapal want the party to be more proactive and force out accused harassers. The Congressional Black Caucus, meanwhile, is letting Conyers decide his own fate, and the congressman himself seems intent on keeping his seat…….”  Please continue reading Democrat saga below: