Fundamental difference? Multiple corroborating witnesses, multiple members of his own staff corroborating it, members of the media corroborating his mental decline.
Via Politico:
The stunning fall of Democratic Rep. John Conyers — who resigned Tuesday amid a growing sexual-harassment scandal — has left confusion, anger, resentment and bewilderment inside the ranks of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group that Conyers helped found nearly four decades ago.
Many CBC members see a double standard at play. They won’t say the treatment of Conyers was racist necessarily — and all express strong support for his alleged victims — but they think white politicians accused of similar misconduct like Blake Farenthold, Al Franken, Roy Moore and Donald Trump get a “benefit of the doubt” that black politicians don’t enjoy.
Some members believe House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other party leaders moved too quickly in calling on Conyers to resign and should have let the process play out further, although they understand the pressure she was under. And still another faction thinks Conyers’ declining health and mental acuity after 52-plus years in Congress led to the debacle, despite evidence that Conyers allegedly had been harassing female staffers for years.
There is also significant anger inside the CBC aimed at one of their own: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Conyers was going to announce his retirement from Congress last Friday. Then Monica Conyers, the congressman’s wife, and Jackson Lee got involved and stopped it from happening, said several Democratic lawmakers and aides. That decision dragged out the controversy for five more days, although the delay ultimately allowed Conyers to endorse his son, John Conyers III, for his seat. Ian Conyers, the congressman’s grand-nephew and a Michigan state senator, also may run, setting off an inter-family battle.