The Senator The Sex Stories

Kari Tupper had reason to feel vindicated last week. After more than three years of research, The Seattle Times published on its front page a massive investigation in which eight women accused Senator Adams, 65, of sexual misconduct and even rape. In an unusual move that stirred nearly as much controversy as the allegations, the paper withheld the names of the eight women-but announced that seven had signed affidavits agreeing to come forward if Adams sued. Unlike Clarence Thomas, William Kennedy Smith or Mike Tyson, Adams was unable to face his accusers. “It was like a drive-by shooting,” said Pamela McKinney, Adams’s press secretary. But within hours the senator responded to the lurid allegations: with his wife and daughter at his side, the Washington Democrat refused to resign, but withdrew his bid for re-election. “I do not know who the women are [or] what they are saying, " he said. “That was an article that was created out of whole cloth by people that hate me, and I don’t know why they do.

It was an ignominious end to a career that had seemed blessed. In 1949, the handsome undergraduate was both student-body president and class valedictorian at the University of Washington–a school first. After Harvard Law School and private practice, he was appointed by JFK to the post of U.S. attorney for western Washington. In 1964, he was elected to Congress while still in his 30s, and served six terms. Jimmy Carter named him secretary of transportation, but Adams’s Kennedy connection kept him an outsider with the Georgia mafia. In 1979, he resigned his cabinet post after Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s chief of staff, tried to pressure him to fire a deputy. “I wasn’t going to do that,” Adams said at the time. “A cabinet officer must work directly for the president and not the White House staff.”

It now seems ironic that, in the Senate since 1987, Adams was an activist on women’s issues. A supporter of abortion rights, he has been a recognized leader on women’s health care, sponsoring legislation for infertility prevention and breast-cancer research. As chairman of a subcommittee on aging, he held the first congressional hearings on menopause. Generally well liked by his political associates, Adams was nicknamed “The Yappy Warrior” for his tendency to talk nonstop. “He was a warm, caring guy who didn’t come across as macho,” said Seattle Democratic activist Judith Lonnquist last week.

The Seattle Times story depicted a far different man. One of his accusers, then a Democratic activist in Seattle, said that in the early 1970s, Adams took her out for a drink. When she complained of a cold, she said he gave her two pills which he said were vitamin C-but which she now thinks were a narcotic. She began to feel strange and Adams escorted her home. Once inside, she said he made pass. When she said no, she claimed he forced her onto her sofa, pulled down her panties–and raped her. “I have no doubt he drugged me. I have no doubt he raped me,” she told the Times. She added that, before leaving, Adams flung $200 onto a table, for her to use to travel on party business.

Mickey Finns are a recurring theme in the newspaper expose. Echoing Kari Tupper’s original charge, one of the anonymous women said Adams gave her a glass of oddly colored champagne. She said she blacked out but woke up later to find Adams undressing her. Another woman who said she worked for Adams when he was secretary of transportation said that in 1978, her boss handed her a glass of wine with what appeared to be the remnants of a ground-up pill visible in the bottom; she said she didn’t drink it, but he kissed her and fondled her breasts anyway. “I feel the only difference between Kari Tupper and me is that I didn’t drink my drink,” she told the Times.

Editorial pages and political leaders in Washington state pushed Adams to defend himself-or resign. So far, the senator has not answered the specific charges, but only issued a blanket denial. He contends that if he doesn’t know who the women are, he cannot refute them. It may not be a defense Adams will have for long: pressure is also mounting for his accusers to come forward.

title: “The Senator The Sex Stories” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-13” author: “Louann Filley”

Kari Tupper had reason to feel vindicated last week. After more than three years of research, The Seattle Times published on its front page a massive investigation in which eight women accused Senator Adams, 65, of sexual misconduct and even rape. In an unusual move that stirred nearly as much controversy as the allegations, the paper withheld the names of the eight women-but announced that seven had signed affidavits agreeing to come forward if Adams sued. Unlike Clarence Thomas, William Kennedy Smith or Mike Tyson, Adams was unable to face his accusers. “It was like a drive-by shooting,” said Pamela McKinney, Adams’s press secretary. But within hours the senator responded to the lurid allegations: with his wife and daughter at his side, the Washington Democrat refused to resign, but withdrew his bid for re-election. “I do not know who the women are [or] what they are saying, " he said. “That was an article that was created out of whole cloth by people that hate me, and I don’t know why they do.

It was an ignominious end to a career that had seemed blessed. In 1949, the handsome undergraduate was both student-body president and class valedictorian at the University of Washington–a school first. After Harvard Law School and private practice, he was appointed by JFK to the post of U.S. attorney for western Washington. In 1964, he was elected to Congress while still in his 30s, and served six terms. Jimmy Carter named him secretary of transportation, but Adams’s Kennedy connection kept him an outsider with the Georgia mafia. In 1979, he resigned his cabinet post after Hamilton Jordan, Carter’s chief of staff, tried to pressure him to fire a deputy. “I wasn’t going to do that,” Adams said at the time. “A cabinet officer must work directly for the president and not the White House staff.”

It now seems ironic that, in the Senate since 1987, Adams was an activist on women’s issues. A supporter of abortion rights, he has been a recognized leader on women’s health care, sponsoring legislation for infertility prevention and breast-cancer research. As chairman of a subcommittee on aging, he held the first congressional hearings on menopause. Generally well liked by his political associates, Adams was nicknamed “The Yappy Warrior” for his tendency to talk nonstop. “He was a warm, caring guy who didn’t come across as macho,” said Seattle Democratic activist Judith Lonnquist last week.

The Seattle Times story depicted a far different man. One of his accusers, then a Democratic activist in Seattle, said that in the early 1970s, Adams took her out for a drink. When she complained of a cold, she said he gave her two pills which he said were vitamin C-but which she now thinks were a narcotic. She began to feel strange and Adams escorted her home. Once inside, she said he made pass. When she said no, she claimed he forced her onto her sofa, pulled down her panties–and raped her. “I have no doubt he drugged me. I have no doubt he raped me,” she told the Times. She added that, before leaving, Adams flung $200 onto a table, for her to use to travel on party business.

Mickey Finns are a recurring theme in the newspaper expose. Echoing Kari Tupper’s original charge, one of the anonymous women said Adams gave her a glass of oddly colored champagne. She said she blacked out but woke up later to find Adams undressing her. Another woman who said she worked for Adams when he was secretary of transportation said that in 1978, her boss handed her a glass of wine with what appeared to be the remnants of a ground-up pill visible in the bottom; she said she didn’t drink it, but he kissed her and fondled her breasts anyway. “I feel the only difference between Kari Tupper and me is that I didn’t drink my drink,” she told the Times.

Editorial pages and political leaders in Washington state pushed Adams to defend himself-or resign. So far, the senator has not answered the specific charges, but only issued a blanket denial. He contends that if he doesn’t know who the women are, he cannot refute them. It may not be a defense Adams will have for long: pressure is also mounting for his accusers to come forward.