Rep. Don Sherwood (R-Pa) implicated in choking incident

[paineinthearse]

Chuck Todd of "Hotline" (on CSPAN Journal) is reporting that the Wanshington DC police received a 911 call from the apartment of Rep. Don Sherwood of Northeastern PA. Facts about the call were anonymously faxed to the Wilkes-Barre PA police.

When the local police investigated it is reported that the women called 911 to report she was being choked. Later she changed her story to say that it was a misunderstanding, she was just receiving a backrub.

Sherwood has been married for 34 years.

Nothing to this nature in google news yet - this is the only recent entry by Sherwood:

Sherwood feted; congressman pushes for Social Security reform
Milton Daily Standard, PA - Apr 27, 2005
... Don Sherwood by the presidents and chief executive ... Robert Hickox from the Central Pennsylvania Chamber and ... to receive this award, a representative needs to ...

Developing, will add more...........if there are any PA 10th dirstict members willing to help, please call his office at 888-366-7210 and ask if there are any public comments.

Edited: Wilksbury to Wilkes-Barre.

[paineinthearse]

1. Biography of Congressman Don Sherwood

http://www.house.gov/sherwood/bio.shtml

Biography of Congressman Don Sherwood

Congressman Don Sherwood (R-Tunkhannock) represents Pennsylvania’s 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, elected to his fourth term in November 2004. The 10th District includes the counties of Bradford, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Union, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming, and also parts of Lackawanna, Luzerne and Lycoming counties.

Sherwood has helped bring new jobs to northeastern and northcentral Pennsylvania, with businesses including CIGNA, Mills Pride, Tobyhanna Army Depot, General Dynamics, Wells Cargo and others establishing new missions and new jobs in the 10th District. Sherwood successfully passed his legislation to create a Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to help northeastern states combat sudden supply disruptions or price spikes. Sherwood was instrumental in establishing a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program to provide a federal safety net for dairy farmers (the MILC program), similar to programs available to other farmers. Sherwood’s bills to provide federal designations to the Lackawanna Heritage Valley and Grey Towers were passed by Congress and signed into law. He has written legislation to protect U.S. dairy farmers against unfair imports of foreign milk protein concentrates (MPCs) and has more than 60 co-sponsors of his bill.

Sherwood is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which writes the laws funding all the departments, agencies and programs of the federal government each year. In January 2005, Sherwood was named Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. Sherwood is also a member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education, which controls more than $100 billion in annual appropriations for those three federal departments. He also is a member of the Subcommittee on the Interior, which oversees funding for national parks and forests, as well as important conservation and energy research programs.

On the Appropriations Committee, Don Sherwood has worked to bring home millions of dollars for highways, hospitals, military industries and other institutions in every county of the 10th District. He helped secure a special $12 million appropriation for environmental reclamation projects in Pennsylvania's Anthracite Region, and has obtained more than $16 million for local communities to improve water and sewer infrastructure. He has secured $2.3 million for the Northeast Pennsylvania Community Forestry program, which has provided grants to local communities for 165 projects in the region. He obtained more than $20 million for highways, airports, and bus systems. He has secured new facilities for the Pennsylvania National Guard and Tobyhanna Army Depot.

In the Medicare reform law establishing a new prescription drug benefit for senior citizens, Sherwood secured changes that will mean more than $76 million in additional Medicare reimbursements to hospitals in the region over the next five years, helping to keep down charges to patients. In addition, he has secured more than $6.5 million for area hospitals to modernize facilities and buy new equipment.

A veteran of the U.S. Army, Don Sherwood had active duty service as a First Lieutenant at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., Pueblo Army Depot, Co., and in Panama. After his military service, he founded Sherwood Chevrolet of Tunkhannock. He also has been involved in the truck and forestry equipment business. Among many local organizations in which he served, he was on the Tunkannock Area School Board for 22 years.

Don and Carol (Evans) Sherwood have been married for 33 years. They have three daughters: Jesse, Dana and Maria. A sixth-generation resident of northeastern Pennsylvania, Don Sherwood was born March 5, 1941, to the late Doris Williams Sherwood and the late Walter A. Sherwood of Nicholson. He attended Lackawanna Trail High School and completed his secondary education at Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Dartmouth College in 1963.

Don Sherwood was first elected to the 10th District seat on November 3, 1998, succeeding Joseph M. McDade. In his first term, Sherwood served on the Armed Services Committee, the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and the Resources Committee.

[BlueIris]

2. Nice. ::shudders::

Yes, do post updates.

[CottonBear]

3. Did Chuck mention to which party Sherwood belongs? edit: he's a Repub.

Someone is in big trouble right about now. I hope that the woman is OK.

[paineinthearse]

4. Yes, sorry I did not mention that

Chuck said he narrowly won his seat.

[CottonBear]

9. No need to be sorry. It was breaking "Hotline" news.

I wonder if he's up for re-election in 2006?

I know it's horrible for his wife and family but this is SO representative of Right Wing Family Values.

[paineinthearse]

17. ALL representatives are up for re-election in 2006, it's a 2-year term nt

[FreedomAngel82]

12. I hope so too

To me just from reading it he probably was choking her and because he's in the public life she changed her story. A backrub? What? Surely she could've come up with something better.

[ClintonTyree]

5. She mistook choking for a backrub....

I see. Looks like Sherwood went to the Scarborough School of Massage. Married 34 years huh? Sounds like a good, upstanding, moral kind of guy to me. Another good Republican "family values" guy, probably part of the Christian Coalition too. :eyes:

[LetsGoMurphys]

7. nah

He is very moderate. Doesn't really stir up much controversy. He used to be my congressman until they moved districts. I now have a much better congressman named Paul Kanjorski (D).

[LetsGoMurphys]

6. sp

Wilkes-Barre

[paineinthearse]

8. Searching local newspapers.

So far nothing in the Standard Journal nor the Citizens Voice.

Wilkes-Barre news media
Title Medium Lang
Citizens' Voice newspaper en
Wilkes University Beacon (university) newspaper en
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader newspaper en

Wilkes-Barre entertainment media
Title Medium Lang
WBRE TV 28 (NBC) TV en
Weekender (city guides) newspaper en

Are there other 10th district media?

[paineinthearse]

10. Times-Leader: Constituents deserve the whole story on Sherwood

This editorial summarizes the event, which appears to have happened last fall but only is coming to light now. "The incident happened seven months ago and only came to the attention of the media through one of Sherwood’s past opponents."

====================================================

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/11549372.htm

Posted on Tue, May. 03, 2005

In Our Opinion

Constituents deserve the whole story on Sherwood

THE CONSTITUENTS of U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood deserve to know what’s going on. On Saturday, the Times Leader reported that last fall, Washington D.C. police were called to Sherwood’s apartment in response to a 911 call from a woman who was visiting there. Cynthia Ore, 29, told the police Sherwood choked her. Defenders of the representative say there’s much that diffuses this story. The incident happened seven months ago and only came to the attention of the media through one of Sherwood’s past opponents. The woman who called 911 backed off of her claims when police arrived and no charges were filed.

Sherwood says the accusations are false and that it’s a political smear. But it’s not that simple. In the police report, Sherwood says he was giving the woman a back rub. Sherwood has been married for 33 years, according to his own congressional Web site. When Sherwood spoke to Times Leader reporters, he called the woman an acquaintance. He said he didn’t invite her. But then, why let her into his apartment?

Sherwood is a four-term congressman. He’s a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, a member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education, and a member of the Subcommittee on the Interior. We’d expect someone with all that responsibility would be smart enough – savvy enough -- not to allow himself to be put into a compromising situation.

Now that the police report has been made public, Sherwood needs to be upfront with the people of the 10th Congressional District, which includes much of Northeast Pennsylvania and a big chunk of Luzerne County. Maybe there’s a logical explanation for a woman in his apartment, backrubs, and the police. The people Sherwood represents deserve to hear from him.

[LetsGoMurphys]

23. wow

he's pulling 29 year old tail?

[GiovanniC]

11. Who Here HASN'T Mistaken a Backrub for a Choking and Called 911 About It?

Sounds plausible to me.
















:sarcasm:

[efhmc]

39. Did you know that you are funny?

[paineinthearse]

13. Exclusive: Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report

The rethugs are circling the wagons and starting the spin!

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/11549677.htm

Posted on Tue, May. 03, 2005

Exclusive: Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report
Local political observer advises facing issue linked to D.C. ‘domestic incident.’

By BRETT MARCY [email protected]

Republicans are circling the wagons around U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock, in the wake of an incident involving a 29-year-old woman in his Washington, D.C., apartment last September. “The only thing you have in life is your reputation,” said Marge Matisko, an activist with the Luzerne County Republican Party. “Don Sherwood has always been very well-respected, and he always valued that. This has hurt him personally and professionally, and that’s a shame.” No one was charged in what police termed a domestic incident.

<snip>

Sherwood is unlikely to experience much political fallout from the incident, say officials of the Republican National Congressional Committee. “I’m not sure there are any (repercussions),” said Carl Fonti, RNCC spokesman. “You have an allegation in an incident where there were no charges filed, where the allegations were withdrawn, and it was sent to the newspaper by a political opponent of the congressman who obviously has an ax to grind.” Baldino, however, argued that Sherwood would be wise to face the controversy head-on, rather than let it fester.

<snip>

The incident occurred seven months ago. A partial police report was faxed to numerous newspapers and TV stations last week. The Times Leader obtained the full report from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, which verified the incident. According to the report: Police responded to a 911 call on Sept. 15 from Cynthia Ore, 29, of Rockville, Md. She locked herself in a bathroom in Sherwood’s D Street apartment and told operators that Sherwood “choked her for no apparent reason” while giving her a backrub. Sherwood, 64, told police he was giving Ore a backrub when she “jumped up” and ran to the bathroom. Police said they saw no visible injuries on Ore’s neck, and Ore later backed off her story when questioned by police. “Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened,” Washington Metropolitan Police stated in the incident report. Ore said that she and Sherwood, who is married, have had an ongoing relationship since 1999, when the two met at a Young Republicans meeting. Sherwood has refused to specify the nature of their relationship, calling Ore “an acquaintance.”

<snip>

Veronica Hannevig, a Constitution Party candidate who faced Sherwood in the 2004 congressional race, faxed some information about the report to the Times Leader. She said someone from Washington mailed her the first page of the incident report on April 26 in an envelope with no return address. Hannevig, of Simpson, Pa., said she forwarded the report to local media, believing news outlets already had the documents in hand. Her intent, she said, was to determine why the media had held off on the story. “I thought you already had it,” Hannevig said Monday. “I do agree with Congressman Sherwood that it’s probably a political thing, maybe someone either in the Democratic or Republican parties who want his seat, that let this loose.”

more....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brett Marcy, the Times Leader’s Harrisburg correspondent, may be reached at [phone].

[Divernan]

18. "An ongoing relationship since 1999"?!?!?!?!

Wonder if its been "ongoing" since the 911 call. The article quoted the police report as the woman saying they had met at a young republican function. She was 29 in 2004 when the police were called; she would have been 24 when she met the Congressman. He is now 64; would have been 59 when they hooked up - that's a quarter of a century age difference.

So, as Paul Harvey, used to say, "And now, for the rest of the story. . ." - except we're still waiting. Exactly what was this woman's job back in 1999, and how has she earned her living since then? What was the quid pro quo for her?

[paineinthearse]

30. Freepers' reactions to the "rallying" news story.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1395688/posts

[bobbieinok]

37. he's not getting any sympathy there....interesting view of young republica

republican meetings

[paineinthearse]

14. Times Leader: Sherwood denies choking woman Exclusive

Rethug cover-up rule #1: deny, deny, deny.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/11530199.htm

Posted on Sat, Apr. 30, 2005


10th Congressional District
Sherwood denies choking woman Exclusive
Cynthia Ore, 29, who was receiving a back rub from him at the time, has retracted the claim.

By KEVIN AMERMAN [email protected]

Police responded to the Washington, D.C., apartment of U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood seven months ago after a woman who was visiting called 911 and reported he choked her. Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock, says he was falsely accused. He pointed to a police report that stated the woman backed off the claim. He also said he’s the victim of a political smear. No one has been charged in what the police termed a domestic incident. “Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened,” Washington Metropolitan Police stated in the incident report.

Cynthia Ore, 29, of Rockville, Md. locked herself in a bathroom and called 911 from her cell phone on the afternoon of Sept. 15, saying Sherwood “choked her for no apparent reason” while giving her a backrub in his apartment on D Street, according to a police report. Sherwood, 64, told police he was giving Ore a backrub when she “jumped up” and ran to the bathroom, the report stated. Police in Washington said they saw no visible injuries on Ore’s neck and had trouble getting to the bottom of the story. “Based on interviews with both parties and no physical evidence of injury to (Ore), there was no probable cause to make an arrest or reasonable cause to believe (Ore) was assaulted,” the incident report stated.

After telling police she was assaulted, Ore “changed the subject” and said nothing happened, “we were just sitting in the living room sipping tea,” police said, noting that Ore “did not seem to be of sound mind.” Ore, in a phone interview Thursday, said her friends and workers at a woman’s resource center have encouraged her to consider some sort of legal action against Sherwood. “Thinking of that day I could cry and cry.” Ore said she was supposed to meet Sherwood at the apartment that day but was late. That upset Sherwood, she said.

Sherwood disputes her version of what happened. Sherwood, who is married, called Ore “an acquaintance” but wouldn’t say why she was in his apartment. “Did I call her there, no. You meet lots of people in Washington and I had known her casually,” Sherwood said. He could not recall how long ago they met. “She made an allegation against me which, I say, is absolutely not true. The police investigated the allegation and agreed,” Sherwood said. “People can say what they want to say. It’s a political smear. I’ve never asked any of my opponents to discuss their personal lives and I’m not going to discuss mine.”

more......

Managing Editor David Iseman contributed to this story.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

16. "Family Values"

strikes again!

[Divernan]

19. Is Sherwood on record w/ comments about Clinton/Lewinsky?

NT

[BikeWriter]

22. He did mention it. in passing.

While there was little explicit talk about President Bill Clinton's troubles during the campaign, Sherwood is thought to have benefitted from some fallout from the scandal.

"There are people who are very upset about the president," Sherwood said before election day. "But I have not felt that I want to make it a partisan issue in the campaign, so I have not had a lot of comment about it."

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/house/pennsylvania.cd10/

[LetsGoMurphys]

24. the problem is...

they deny, deny, and deny, and it works!

[paineinthearse]

29. Freeper responses to this "choking" news story.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1394532/posts#comment?q=1

[paineinthearse]

15. LTTE: Political smear more of a slug’s trail

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/11549373.htm

Posted on Tue, May. 03, 2005

Political smear more of a slug’s trail

I read with interest the article in the April 30 issue of the Times Leader about Don Sherwood’s “misunderstanding” involving the 29-year-old woman at his apartment in Washington.

Whenever anybody to whom I was giving a backrub got up and locked themselves in the bathroom to call 911 on their cell phone, it was always because of something I said or did. In Don’s case it is, according to him, a political smear. It must be a very well-organized smear because it took a long time to mature. Whoever set out to smear him must have enormous patience.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Braun Mehoopany

"Whenever anybody to whom I was giving a backrub got up and locked themselves in the bathroom to call 911 on their cell phone, it was always because of something I said or did...." :rofl: (I hope this was sarcasm).

[LetsGoMurphys]

38. its so ridiculous

that the scranton times did not have a single mention of this...his constituency covers part of the county (lackawanna) that scranton is in. what a joke.

[BikeWriter]

20. He sounds like a comPASSIONATE CONservative.

[burn the bush]

21. someone once held a knife to my daughters throat to calm her

we call it the calming knife now. This must be similar. The calming strangle.

sounds like it must have worked. she was much calmer whent the police got there.

[rodeodance]

25. from choking 9/11 call to a backrub.-umm.. a bit of kinky sex gone

aray?

[BringEmOn]

26. The Sherwood Forest?

New name for MSNBC talk show...after Sherwood resigns to "spend more time with the family" Hey, it worked for Joey Scarborough.

[paineinthearse]

27. The "Congressman Don Sherwood Choking Scandal" is gaining legs

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22don+sherwood%22&btnG=Search+News

Google news "hits"

Congressman Don Sherwood Choking Scandal
Outside the Beltway, VA - 3 hours ago
Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania's 10th District. ... Don Sherwood seven months ago after a woman who was visiting called 911 and reported he choked her. ...
Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report EXCLUSIVE Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
Woman Says Congressman From Pa. Choked Her Newsday
Woman Says Congressman From Pa. Choked Her ABC News
all 31 related »

[paineinthearse]

28. AP/Newsday: Woman Says Congressman From Pa. Choked Her

Woman Says Congressman From Pa. Choked Her

By Associated Press

May 2, 2005, 10:33 PM EDT

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- A woman alleged in a call to police last fall that U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood had started choking her while giving her a back rub at his Washington apartment, but no charges were filed, according to a published report. The encounter between Sherwood, 64, a four-term Republican congressman, and Cynthia Ore, 29, of Rockville, Md., occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 15, according to a copy of a Washington Metropolitan Police incident report obtained by the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times Leader.

"Based on interviews with both parties and no physical evidence of injury to (Ore), there was no probable cause to make an arrest or reasonable cause to believe (Ore) was assaulted," the incident report stated. But police also said in the report they did not receive a full account of events. "Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened," the incident report said.

Sherwood, who is married, told the Times Leader in a story published Saturday that Ore was "an acquaintance" but wouldn't elaborate on why she was in his apartment. Ore told the newspaper the two met in 1999 at a Young Republicans meeting but wouldn't go into specifics about their relationship. "She made an allegation against me which, I say, is absolutely not true," Sherwood said. "The police investigated the allegation and agreed." According to the police report, Ore called 911 on her cell phone from Sherwood's bathroom and reported that Sherwood had "choked her for no apparent reason." Both parties said he was giving her a back rub, but he said she "jumped up" and ran to the bathroom during it.

Police said Ore changed her account during an interview with police, saying nothing had happened, but added that the woman "did not seem to be of sound mind," the report said. "Thinking of that day I could cry and cry," Ore told the Times Leader. Sherwood, whose 10th district encompasses parts of northeast and central Pennsylvania, said he's the victim of a political smear. The Times Leader said it first learned about the incident from a fax it received from a woman who ran against Sherwood last fall. The newspaper said the woman provided only limited information, and that it got the rest when it obtained a full report from Washington police. Sherwood's office told The Associated Press early Monday night that no one would be available until Tuesday to comment on the report, and a message left at Ore's home was not returned. Washington police said a copy of the police report could not be made available Monday night.

[ComerPerro]

31. God bless those Republicans. Model citizens of upstanding morality

[paineinthearse]

32. Interesting post at "Red State" blog - "Can you spell hypocrite?"

http://mark-kilmer.redstate.org/story/2005/5/3/153351/8062

"Can you spell hypocrite? By: Flinstone
He's a Republican and listed as having voted for the constitutional ammendment to protect the sanctity of marriage."

[paineinthearse]

33. Interesting post at "Red State" blog - "Can you spell hypocrite?"

http://mark-kilmer.redstate.org/story/2005/5/3/153351/8062

"Can you spell hypocrite? By: Flinstone
He's a Republican and listed as having voted for the constitutional ammendment to protect the sanctity of marriage."

[Botany]

34. A back rub?

Come on guys who many married men have not had a much younger
women run into the bathroom, lock the door, call 9-11 as you
were giving her a back rub, as your wife was gone.

Must have been the thought of the 4 hour Viagra erection that
scared away the young Miss. So how long have they know each
other?

Anybody seen Ken Starr?

[paineinthearse]

35. Anybody seen Ken Starr?

Isn't he still investigating Bubba?

[Dob Bole]

36. Did he use PRETZELS?

What? What'd I say?

[paineinthearse]

40. Attn PA Du'ers, any recent developments?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[bcoylepa]

41. story has legs

Sherwood has issued apology to family and supporters but what about all his constituents?
The Daily Review Towanda Pa had front page article and the Wilkes Barre Times Leader has an editorial and an article that goes further into his backing by the Christian Conservatives - American Family Association gives him 100% rating
She says they were lovers. He says that he is not answering any more questions - he has "the people work to do"- we will see about that Mr.Sherwood!!
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/11558237.htm