Sen. Al Franken Is Resigning Following Sexual Misconduct Accusations

The Minnesota senator and former Saturday Night Live star is the second member of Congress to announce this week he will leave office following sexual misconduct allegations.

Democratic Sen. Al Franken announced Thursday he would resign "in the coming weeks" following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, making him the second member of Congress to say he would leave office this week as revelations about sexual harassment grip Capitol Hill and other industries.

"Today I am announcing that in the coming weeks, I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate," Franken said in a speech on the Senate floor.

"Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others I remember very differently," Franken added.

BREAKING: Sen. Al Franken announces he's resigning amid sexual misconduct allegations.

The allegations, from seven women, date back to as early as 2003, when Franken was still a comedian, to his early years in the Senate, and include claims of unwanted kissing and groping.

Franken said the country has "entered an important moment in history" where "we are finally beginning to listen to women."

"I was excited for that conversation and hopeful it would result in real change that made life better for women all across the country and in every part of our society," he said. "Then the conversation turned to me."

Franken said some of the allegations are not true and some he remembers differently, but did not elaborate further.

"I am proud that during my time in the Senate I’ve used my power to be a champion of women and that I’ve earned a reputation as someone who respects the women I work alongside," he said. "There's been a different picture painted of me ... I know who I really am."

Franken calls it ironic that he's resigning "while a man who's bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault… https://t.co/IoV0TNYWiS

Franken did not provide a specific date his resignation will take effect, but a Senate Democratic aide said that Franken is taking some time before leaving office in order to help staff figure out what's next for them.

Referring to President Donald Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, Franken said: "I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assaults sits in the Oval Office and a man who repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party."

"There’s a big part of me that will always regret having to walk away from this job with so much work left to be done, but I have faith the work will continue," he said.

On Wednesday, Franken faced growing calls to resign from Senate colleagues after Politico reported that he had allegedly tried to forcibly kiss a Democratic aide in 2006, before he was a senator, and that he told the young woman: "It’s my right as an entertainer." In a statement to Politico, Franken categorically denied the allegation, but several Democratic senators called on him to step down that day, as well as Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez.

"While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn’t acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve," New York Sen. Kristen Gillibrand wrote in a Facebook post.

It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women. He should resign.

The first allegation came in mid-November from Los Angeles news anchor Leeann Tweeden, who wrote in a post for KABC radio that while the pair were on a USO tour entertaining US troops in the Middle East, Franken forcibly kissed her and later groped her breasts while she was asleep. Tweeden also shared a photo of the groping incident.

I’ve decided it’s time to tell my story. #MeToo https://t.co/TqTgfvzkZg

Franken initially cast doubt on Tweeden’s recollection of the rehearsal during which he kissed her, but later issued a more detailed apology and said he would cooperate with a Senate Ethics Committee investigation requested by a bipartisan chorus of senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Since then, more women have come forward with accusations against Franken, who was first elected to the Senate in 2008. Lindsay Menz told CNN Franken grabbed her buttocks while they took a photo together at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. Two unnamed women subsequently accused Franken of similar behavior at events during his first Senate run, according to the Huffington Post.

“My immediate reaction was disgust,” one of the women, who met Franken at a Democratic fundraising event in 2008, told the Huffington Post. “But my secondary reaction was disappointment. I was excited to be there and to meet him. And so to have that happen really deflated me.”

The woman also accused Franken of asking her to join him in the bathroom, which Franken denies.

A fifth woman, Army veteran Stephanie Kemplin, accused Franken of cupping her breast in 2003 while the two took a photo together in Kuwait, where she was deployed and Franken was performing on another USO tour. And a former elected official in New England, who spoke anonymously to Jezebel, accused Franken of giving her a “wet, open-mouthed kiss” without her consent in 2006.

"And I remember thinking — is he going to move his hand?" An Army veteran tells CNN that Sen. Al Franken inappropri… https://t.co/Xyf7DcobJ3

Franken issued a statement in November saying he had “crossed a line” in his interactions with some women; at the time, only four women had accused him of misconduct.

“I’ve met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations,” Franken said in the statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune. “I’m a warm person; I hug people. I’ve learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many.

“Some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that. I’ve thought a lot in recent days about how that could happen, and recognize that I need to be much more careful and sensitive in these situations. I feel terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly and for that I am so sorry, and I want to make sure that never happens again.”

At a press conference more than a week after the first allegations against him surfaced, Franken apologized for disappointing people and said he felt ashamed — but, when asked about a possible resignation, said he wouldn’t "speculate on that."

"If you had asked me two weeks ago, would any woman come forward with an allegation like this, I would have said 'no,'" Franken said. "This has been a shock, and it's been extremely humbling."

"I am going to work to regain their trust," he said at the time. "I am going to be accountable. We are going to cooperate completely with the ethics investigation."

The accusations against Franken come as lawmakers grapple with growing allegations of sexual misconduct in Congress. Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the longest serving member of the House announced his resignation on Dec. 5, following multiple accusations of sexual harassment and a secret settlement to keep one staffer quiet, as first reported by BuzzFeed News.

BuzzFeed News also reported that a former campaign staffer to Democratic Rep. Ruben Kihuen left the campaign after the then-candidate allegedly sexually harassed her on multiple occasions. Kihuen has so far resisted calls for his resignation, including from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the chairman of the Democrats’ House campaign committee, Ben Ray Luján.

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