Herman Cain was supposed to take questions after a speech to health care professionals, but he ultimately refused and left the hotel through a back door.

“I’m here to visit with these doctors, and that’s what I’m going to talk about, so don’t even bother asking me all of these other questions that you all are curious about, OK? Don’t even bother,” a testy Cain told a throng of reporters.

When pressed about the week’s previous allegations, Cain raised his voice and said “What did I say? Excuse me. Excuse me!” as hotel security led him through a hallway jammed with journalists in a Washington suburb. “What part of ‘no’ don’t people understand?”

Meanwhile, another of Cain’s accusers appeared increasingly reluctant to speak publicly, though her lawyer took the first steps for her to do so. Attorney Joel P. Bennett contacted the association onWednesday and asked it to release his client from the confidentiality arrangement she had agreed to so that she could talk openly about her allegations and respond to Cain’s assertion that her complaints were “totally baseless and totally false.”