AP: Former Cain Campaign Staffer Alleges Gay Coverup

A former staffer for Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has accused the campaign of misrepresenting the role of a gay adviser previously caught up in a financial scandal, the Associated Press reports.

Cain's former Iowa straw poll coordinator, Kevin Hall, made the claims during a hearing with Iowa Workforce Development and in a letter seeking unemployment benefits. He testified that Scott Toomey, a former senior political adviser on the campaign, "went underground" following reports that in a previous position as treasurer of the Madison Pride Board in Wisconsin, "financial discrepancies" were discovered that Toomey had not reported. Hall testified that Toomey's sexual orientation "had become an issue" with some campaign staffers, and that while he continued to work on the campaign as an outside consultant, staffers were told that he was no longer involved.

"A conservative candidate, Mr. Cain is on the record as stating that he believes homosexuality is a sin and a choice," Hall testified. "And they know that, if his top adviser, his highly paid adviser, is openly gay that it would cast a negative light on Mr. Cain and would cost him in his efforts to become president."

A Cain spokeswoman dismissed the claims and said they had been made by "a disgruntled former staffer" who worked on the campaign for just over three weeks (read the AP story here).