Early this morning, Politico reported a seventh woman has accused Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) of sexual misconduct. She claimed he tried to forcibly kiss her.
The “zero tolerance” senators have finally called for him to resign…after the seventh accuser.
When the woman fled the room, Franken told her, “It’s my right as an entertainer.”
Mike wrote a piece for this morning that just yesterday, Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) refused to call for Franken’s resignation, even though, at the time, six women accused him of sexual misconduct.
But I guess the magic number is seven because she has called for him to resign:
Interesting tidbit: Franken said he is holding a press conference tomorrow. Did he let his colleagues know and now they’re taking a stand?
Now they can play hero:
From Politico:
The aide, whose name POLITICO is withholding to protect her identity, said Franken (D-Minn.) pursued her after her boss had left the studio. She said she was gathering her belongings to follow her boss out of the room. When she turned around, Franken was in her face.The former staffer ducked to avoid Franken’s lips. As she hastily left the room, she said, Franken told her: “It’s my right as an entertainer.”“He was between me and the door and he was coming at me to kiss me. It was very quick and I think my brain had to work really hard to be like ‘Wait, what is happening?’ But I knew whatever was happening was not right and I ducked,” the aide said in an interview. “I was really startled by it and I just sort of booked it towards the door and he said, ‘It’s my right as an entertainer.’”The former staffer, who was in her mid-20s at the time of the incident, said she did not respond to Franken.
Politico contacted the woman’s two former colleagues that corroborated her story. One of the colleagues confirmed that the woman told her about the incident right after it happened, including the entertainer line. The other colleague said the woman told her about the encounter in 2009 or 2010.
The woman told Politico she just wants Franken “to acknowledge that his behavior towards her and other women was intentional.”
Franken has denied these allegations:
“This allegation is categorically not true and the idea that I would claim this as my right as an entertainer is preposterous. I look forward to fully cooperating with the ongoing ethics committee investigation,” Franken said in a statement to POLITICO.
She is the seventh woman to accuse Franken of sexual misconduct.Radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden claimed that Franken forcibly kissed her and groped her breast as slept in 2006 during a USO tour. A few days later, Lindsay Menz said that Franken grabbed her butt during a photo-op at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010.
HuffPo published a report with claims from two anonymous females with similar cases to Menz’s. They said that Franken groped their butts at a political event and then suggested they all go to the bathroom.
Army veteran Stephanie Kemplin told CNN last week that Franken groped her breasts during a photo-op in 2003. An unnamed former New England elected official claimed that Franken tried to plant a “wet, open-mouthed kiss” on her in 2006.
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