Schwarzenegger Hires Private Firm to Investigate Groping Allegations

Against the protests of women's rights advocates, Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger recently hired a private investigation firm to look into allegations that he groped at least 16 women in the past three decades. Women's groups and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D), a Schwarzenegger supporter, have called for an independent investigation. "If someone came to me and said I am working for Arnold Schwarzenegger and I want to investigate what you said about him, I wouldn't feel very secure," Helen Greico, executive director of the California National Organization for Women, told the Los Angeles Times. "An independent investigation would be the right call."

The inquiry into the allegations is meant to fulfill a campaign promise by Schwarzenegger, that he would address the charges that surfaced in the last days of the recall election by the LA Times. Schwarzenegger is reportedly upset with Lockyer for supposedly violating "attorney-client privilege," although this claim has been repeatedly dismissed by legal experts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lockyer has been accused of trivializing Schwarznegger's actions by calling it "frat boy behavior," according to the Times. Though he tried to clarify his remarks by explaining that in his mind, "frat-boy behavior runs from rowdy drunkenness to rape," women's rights groups are not convinced, the Times reports. "[Lockyer] should not be see-sawing back and forth. He should take a stand with women, not with Arnold," Greico told the Chronicle.

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Media Resources: LA Times 11/7/03; San Francisco Chronicle 11/7/03; Feminist Daily News

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