Black Conservative Group Slams Release of Bill Cosby Deposition

A group of black conservatives is lashing out at the release of previously sealed documents in which Bill Cosby admits giving drugs to women with whom he wanted to have sex — and labels the accusers as "opportunistic."

The public policy group Project 21 says the federal judge who released the documents after a lawsuit by The Associated Press was unfair to the 77-year-old comedian.

"What we have seen over the last year is Bill Cosby repeatedly attacked and tried in the media," Archbishop Council Nedd II, a founder of Project 21, said in a statement, The Hill reports.

"Based on the fact that none of the accusers, seen on the variety of news and talk shows, saw fit to push for criminal charges when the events occurred, tells me that they made a personal and calculated decision to live with whatever transpired. To me, it seems opportunistic to seek media headlines now."

After waiting so many years to come forward, the women should be prepared to "live with whatever transpired," he suggested, The Hill reports.

Project 21 noted it wasn't defending Cosby’s alleged actions, but the process by which the judge decided to unseal the documents.

The Hill reports Judge Eduardo Robreno argued Cosby's stance on other issues meant that the documents should be unsealed.

"The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct, is a matter as to which the AP — and by extension the public — has a significant interest," the judge reasoned, The Hill reports.

Meanwhile, Andrea Constand, the former Temple University staffer who was the first woman to come forward to accuse Cosby in a civil lawsuit in 2004, filed a motion in U.S. District Court that in part calls for the full release of the now unsealed court documents.

"These documents will assist women who have been victimized and bring awareness to the fact that the sexual assault is not just committed with a gun or a knife, but is also committed by mentors who engage in exploitative behaviors," the suit says.

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