Woman Claims Franken Groped Her Butt During Photo-Op in 2010
“…as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear.”
Another woman has accused Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) of inappropriate behavior. According to CNN, 33-year-old Lindsay Menz claims that Franken grabbed her butt during a photo-op at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010.
Just days ago, radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden claimed that Franken forcibly kissed her and groped her breasts as she slept in 2006 during a USO tour.
Before the news broke about Mendez, Franken’s office said the senator will not resign:
NOT GOING ANYWHERE. Al Franken’s office now saying he won’t resign amid sexual harassment scandal. pic.twitter.com/9wFdegrNUN
— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) November 20, 2017
The Minnesota Star-Tribune reported that a staff member said via text that Franken is “doing a lot of reflecting” as he spend “time with his family in Washington, D.C., and will be through the Thanksgiving holiday.”
But now Franken faces new allegations:
A woman tells CNN that Al Franken grabbed her buttocks while she was taking a photo with the sitting US senator in 2010. Franken says he doesn’t remember the photo and feels “badly” that she felt disrespected. https://t.co/6dialHESVo pic.twitter.com/R3k9GMIThX
— CNN International (@cnni) November 20, 2017
From CNN:
Lindsay Menz, a 33-year-old woman who now lives in Frisco, Texas, reached out to CNN on Thursday hours after Tweeden made her story public. Menz said she wanted to share an “uncomfortable” interaction that left her feeling “gross.”
According to Menz, she attended the Minnesota State Fair with her husband and father in the summer of 2010, almost two years after Franken was elected to the Senate. Her father’s small business was sponsoring a local radio booth, and she spent the day meeting various elected officials, political candidates and celebrities and taking photos with them as they stopped by the booth.
When Franken walked in, Menz and her husband, who also spoke with CNN, said they recognized him right away. Menz said she had a brief and cordial exchange with the senator.
Then, as her husband held up her phone and got ready to snap a photo of the two of them, Franken “pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear,” Menz said. “It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek.”
“It wasn’t around my waist. It wasn’t around my hip or side. It was definitely on my butt,” she said, recalling that the brazen act lasted three or four seconds. “I was like, oh my God, what’s happening.”
“He reached around her and kind of pulled her into him,” said her husband Jeremy Menz, who didn’t see what happened behind his wife. “He pulled her in and pushed his head against her head. It was over pretty quick.”
She quickly moved away from Franken afterwards and told her husband what happened. Menz said it made her feel “gross” and her husband wanted to confront Franken, but the first term senator was already gone.
Franken released this statement to CNN:
In a statement to CNN Sunday, Franken said he did not remember taking the photo with Menz and that he felt “badly” that she felt disrespected.
“I take thousands of photos at the state fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don’t remember taking this picture,” Franken said. “I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected.”
CNN wrote that Minnesota state law doesn’t consider “intention touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the buttocks” as criminal sexual assault.
See? You just need one person to come forward and any other victims will find the courage to do the same. Menz told a few people about the incident and a friend “encouraged” her to tell CNN about the incident:
Menz was emphatic that she “absolutely” would not have decided to share her story had Tweeden not done the same.
“I don’t want to paint my story in the same light as hers,” Menz said, saying she believes what happened to Tweeden is much worse.
Still, she said, “the reason I want to say something is if someone sees that I said something, maybe it would give them the courage to say something too.”
AND BEFORE ANYONE ASKS, MENZ AND HER HUSBAND DO NOT BELONG TO EITHER POLITICAL PARTY:
Neither is registered with a political party and she said she has equally supported Republican and Democratic candidates while he said he has tended to favor Republicans. The couple voted last year for Donald Trump, and Menz said she has voted for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is a Democrat, in the past. Menz said she believes she has voted for Franken as well, but is not sure.
After Tweeden’s accusations, Democrats in the senate called for an ethics investigation. Franken said he will cooperate with the investigation.
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Comments
If the left doesn’t want to support due process, they are going to have a severe optics problem moving forward.
I don’t know whether this story is true or not…like the Taylor Swift photo it doesn’t look like anything untoward is happening, but it is just a snapshot and her reaction could have come after that moment in time.
While nothing “untoward” may be happening the picture is definitely a little creepy. It look likes a very personal shot not one I would expect to see with a politician.
Generally speaking a guy of his age willing to do what he did to Ms Tweeden was not doing it for the first time.
No one hates this guy more than me; he’s an absolute swamp creature of the worst order. However, conviction by insinuation from a photo is too weak for me. Investigate the hell out of him, and it won’t surprise me at all if you find substantive evidence (like the other photo).
As they say on the infomercials, “But wait! There’s more”! This new attitude taken by Franken is sort of like the old Gary Hart challenge to the msm to find dirt on him if they could. They did and Franken acting like he had only two such incidents in his past may be his undoing.
All of a sudden the pending Senate Ethics Committee investigation has relevancy.
With membership an even split between the two parties, it will continue to be a place where complaints go to die, or at least wither to an issue which can be “handled”.
The Senate Ethics Committee may not do anything, but the Democrats on the Committee who cover up for Franken will look sleazy, right in time for next year’s mid-terms.
Anyone who wishes to get that close to a Democrat politician these days not only need worry about keeping their wallet, but keeping their body parts from violation. Smarter to keep your distance, but then if she were smart she wouldn’t want a picture with a Democrat politician.
The CNN story mentions that a Republican politician was in the booth soon afterwards and actually asked the woman what they should both do with their arms, such as around the back or waist. He states that he asks that question for all women – so a variation of the Pence Rule.
If I was taking pictures, I think it would be in the video or sports mode where multiple pictures are taken to catch reactions. Take the picture of the entire body and crop to a head shot later.
Another point is that Franken again does not remember the picture, just like not remembering the kiss in the same way as Tweeden did.
Weird how Ds get to forget things but Rs are expected to remember every meeting, email, text, picture, brief handshake, etc.
I take thousands of photos at the state fair surrounded by hundreds of people …
That kind of traffic will certainly wear a guy’s hands down.
Franken has acknowledged using cocaine and other illegal drugs –
During the 2008 election, New York state officials asserted that Al Franken Inc. had failed to carry required workers’ compensation insurance for employees
owed more than $4,743.40 in taxes, fines, and associated penalties in the state of California for 2003 through 2007, because the corporation did not file tax returns in the state for those years.
Franken paid $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states dating back to 2003, mostly from his speeches and other paid appearances. Franken said he paid the income tax in his state of residence, and he would seek retroactive credit for paying the taxes in the wrong states.
In late May 2008, the Minnesota Republican Party released a letter regarding an article Franken had written for Playboy magazine in 2000 entitled “Porn-O-Rama!” The letter, signed by six prominent GOP women, including a state senator and state representative, called on Franken to apologize for what they referred to as a “demeaning and degrading” article.[59] His campaign spokesman responded that “Al had a long career as a satirist. But he understands the difference between what you say as a satirist and what you do as a senator. And as a Senator, Norm Coleman has disrespected the people of Minnesota by putting the Exxons and Halliburtons ahead of working families. And there’s nothing funny about that.”
———————
Citing the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, Franken offered an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies that restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery, and discrimination cases to court. It passed the Senate in November 2010, 68 to 30 in a roll-call vote.[97]
Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer sent the information to the Senate Ethics Committee for review, a decision supported by members of both parties including Franken himself.[112] The next day, Abby Honold, who had worked with Franken to introduce legislation that would provide training to law enforcement interviewing victims of trauma, requested that Franken withdraw his name as the sponsor of that bill. Hornold was raped by a former Franken intern.
all from wiki –
‘i report you decide’
Franken is a sleeze who has double standards and does NOT belong in the Senate, self serving so called apologies not withstanding!
NYT Headline and story…..
“Slutty Woman Places Her Ass In Senator Franken’s Hand”
Senator Franken, an ardent supporter of women’s rights, says he is not demanding an apology from the Slutty Woman. He said that it is not unusual for women to place various body parts in, on or near his hands. He also stated that he understands their attraction and always forgives them even though they repeatedly violate the sanctity of his hands and fingers. “It is one of the downsides of being a famous comedian and a sitting U.S. Senator”, said Franken.
Hillary used “I don’t recall” 21 times in the FBI e-mail scandal and she used it over 50 times in the Whitewater investigation. I think this should become the DNC’s new motto! I can just see Nancy Pelosi with her podium seal inscribed with “I don’t recall”!
Number of times that Clinton figures who testified in court or before Congress said that they didn’t remember, didn’t know, or something similar.
Bill Kennedy 116
Harold Ickes 148
Ricki Seidman 160
Bruce Lindsey 161
Bill Burton 191
Mark Gearan 221
Mack McLarty 233
Neil Egglseston 250
Hillary Clinton 250
John Podesta 264
Jennifer O’Connor 343
Dwight Holton 348
Patsy Thomasson 420
Jeff Eller 697
http://prorev.com/legacy.htm
And that list is just from the 90’s
At this point in time, I think Pelosi would just be having those botox brain freezes.
looking at the pic 1 more time, looks like an intimate couple.
why would any pol want to take a pic like that – oh, forgot the Biden effect – never mind at least the louse didn’t grope or look down her blouse.
LibDem defense of Franken will be that GHW Bush is doing the same thing.
Ohh, even happened while he was a Senator. Time to resign and go back to comedy. Wait, never mind that you were never funny anyway.
*YAWN* Another woman coming forward 17 YEARS after a casual contact with a politician [or other male celebrity] to claim some type of sexual harassment because she felt “uncomfortable”. Please.
Do not allow yourselves to be caught up in this stupidity. Allegations of criminal behavior are one thing, but most of these allegations are nothing but ridiculous.
Correcton: That should be 7 YEARS ago, not 17.
From the post – “She quickly moved away from Franken afterwards and told her husband what happened. Menz said it made her feel “gross” and her husband wanted to confront Franken, but the first term senator was already gone.”
Confrontation at the time would have been messy since I’m sure there would have been a police officer by the senator. The person also posted the info on her facebook page, so there is disclosure at the time.
I view this current disclosure as a reaction to news saying that it wasn’t when he was a senator (it was) as well there was only a couple reports.
Take a look at the included picture. Is that the face of a woman who is upset at a man groping her buttock? See any surprise? Discomfort? How about disgust? I don’t. Now, the photo may have been taken before she was groped. Also, her husband took the picture. I she had been my wife and was distressed at all Franken groping her, I would have noticed that. And, Senator Franken would have been confronted right then and there. But, perhaps she is a consummate actor and feared that Franken would beat her husband to a pulp if her husband has confronted Franken, so she faked looking happy and undisturbed.
See the problem with these things? Nothing is done at the time. But, at a later time the person, usually a woman, decides that she has been violated. The question, in these cases is always the same. What about the situation changed to cause a change of heart in the “victim”?
I do not like Franken. I do not support treating women with anything other than total respect. This new culture, where people can make claims of morally outrageous behavior, on the part of another, years and even decades later and it is instantly accepted as fact, is dangerous. It undermines the rules of justice which are the foundation of this nation.
No, I don’t see the problem with this. Its quite possible the pic was taken before she was groped. She told her husband immediately after it happened but asked him not to do anything because is could create a scene. She also posted on FB that day that she was molested by Franken.
Its pretty clear that she felt violated that day but chose not to do anything. Times have changed and she has every right to raise this issue now in light of what Franken did to Leann Tweeden.
Actually, according to the CNN report, Menz did not post that she was groped by Franken, until after he sister seemingly chastised her for being pressed up so close to Franken in the photo that she posted. Her reported response was, “”Dude — Al Franken TOTALLY molested me! Creeper!”, There is not report of any specific allegations with regard to the nature of the “molestation”.
As I said, I see NO indication in the photo that this women is in any way distressed or upset. If she was groped after the photo was taken by her husband, then the time to chastise Franken was immediately upon the action occurring, not after he left. Considering burgeoning #MeToo movement, I need something more than a simple verbal allegation, especially one years old, before I am going to grant these reporters any credibility.
If the charge is being “gross”, Franken is guilty. If the charge is some actual crime, that’ll require proof.
“CNN wrote that Minnesota state law doesn’t consider “intention touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the buttocks” as criminal sexual assault.””
Ah, so there’s no controlling legal authority. Didn’t that work out well for someone else a few years ago?
The black-letter law doesn’t matter. If a woman FEELS violated, he committed a crime.
“Franken is a sleeze who has double standards and does NOT belong in the Senate, self serving so called apologies not withstanding!”
To the contrary. The Democrat party and Al Franken stole that election fair and square. First by having lax election and voting laws, by being lax in enforcing those laws, and then having over a thousand felons vote illegally. More illegal votes than the margin of victory. Ever notice that whenever, any where, there is a close election, the nominee of the Democrat Party wins with votes found in boxes and car trunks and other places where the sun doesn’t shine? The rule from Wisconsin is that the Republican margin of votes must be greater than the Democrat Party margin of theft.
Ted Kennedy kept getting re-elected even though he was morally degenerated, because liberal women will take one for the team. Same for William Jefferson Clinton, women vote for those men because those men support abortion, so when they get somebody pregnant, she can kill her baby.
Conservative women take one for the team: the team of decency. First, they try to not put themselves in vulnerable places. Second, when they are abused, the come forward, knowing they will take abuse for complaining. They suffer that abuse of public scorn to support the team of decency.
Perhaps next time she will pivot and punch him the sternum.
Sort of heard on Rush: re What should Franken do? Attach yourself to the furthest-to-the-left minority you can. Feminists…
Franken, “too late.”
Homosexuals…
Franken, “I said I was glad he got killed.”
Okay, here’s what you do. Start a joke with, “Three homosexuals go into a bar, looking for a dude to pickup….Claim you’re one of them.”
Franken, “…humina, humina…”
Schadenfreude at lefties getting a taste of their own medicine may be fun for awhile, but it shouldn’t blind us to the fact that this sexual-harassment witch hunt is an anti-male, anti-conservative hysteria. No matter if the offenders, or “offenders” (some most likely have committed crimes, others are just unlucky men with no way to disprove the spectral evidence against them) are lefty pols or Hollywood celebs, you may notice that liberals always tie it back to Trump.
Be careful what you wish for, and for what you’re glad for.