Democratic U.S. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota apologized and requested an ethics investigation of his actions after a Los Angeles newscaster on Thursday accused him of groping and aggressively kissing her in 2006, two years before he was elected to office.
“The first thing I want to do I apologize,” Franken said in a statement. “I respect women. I don’t respect men who don’t. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.”
Hours earlier, former TV host and Playboy model Leeann Tweeden said that while traveling with Franken on a goodwill trip to entertain American troops in the Middle East, Franken “kissed and groped me without my consent, and there’s nothing funny about it.”
Tweeden said she and Franken, then one of America’s best-known comedians, were practicing a skit that called for him to kiss her, and that he “aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”
In an article posted on radio station KABC’s website, Tweeden said, “All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth. I felt disgusted and violated.”
Later, as the U.S. entourage was flying back to the United States, Tweeden said she fell asleep, during which time a photo was taken of a smiling Franken grabbing her breasts.
“I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep,” she said. “I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated. How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?”
Tweeden posted the photo, which shows Franken’s hands directly over the military vest Tweeden wore over her clothes.
“I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter,” Franken said. “There’s no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate.”
The Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, called for an ethics investigation of Franken, and the Minnesota senator concurred.
“I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate,” Franken said.
Fellow senators were quick to weigh in.
“I am deeply disappointed,” said Nevada Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in a statement. “This type of behavior is unacceptable for any public official. I support the Ethics Committee process and investigation into this inappropriate conduct and look forward to hearing more from my colleague on this matter.”
McConnell said in a statement: “As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter. Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable — in the workplace or anywhere else.”
Roy Moore
Allegations of unwanted sexual advances are also at the center of a special Senate election December 12 in the southern state of Alabama. Multiple women have accused Republican candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct decades ago when they were teenagers and he was a local prosecutor in his 30s. Moore has denied the charges and rebuffed calls from prominent Republicans to drop out of the race.
Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers are advancing legislation that would require the entire Congress and staff members to take anti-sexual harassment training.
In recent weeks, women across the U.S., and some men, have publicly disclosed they have over decades been victims of sexual harassment, most often at the hands of powerful people in their workplace who had control over their career advancement. The barrage of complaints ensued after more than 50 women, most of them Hollywood actors, accused powerful film producer Harvey Weinstein of unwanted sexual advances.
VOA’s Ken Bredemeier contributed to this report.
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