Al Franken faces ANOTHER sex harassment claim as Democratic staffer says he tried to forcibly kiss her saying: ‘It’s my right as an entertainer.’
Enough is enough’ said New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
Six Democratic lawmakers are calling for Franken to resign
The push comes as another woman came forward to claim he made an unwanted advance, in 2006
The pressure comes after Democratic Rep. John Conyers resigned his seat in Congress
Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor
DailyMail.com
6 December 2017
A group of Democratic Senate women from his own party on Wednesday urged Sen. Al Franken to resign after groping allegations against him.
‘Enough is enough’ said New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was among a group of senators who became the first of their colleagues to call on Franken to go.
She was joined by senators Maggie Hassan, Mazie Hirono, Claire McCaskill, Kamala Harris, Patty Murray – the third-ranking Senate Democratic leader. The coordinated push took place within a matter of minutes.
‘Al Franken should resign,’ wrote Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
‘It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women. He should resign,’ Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, wrote on Twitter.
The Senate Ethics Committee is already looking into charges against Franken, which began with a claim by Leann Tweeden that he groped her and kissed her inappropriately on a government USO tour Franken was headlining as a comedian.
Franken has apologized for most of the incidents and has said he would cooperate with a Senate ethics probe into his behavior.
The move comes just a day after Rep. John Conyers of Michigan resigned his House seat after facing sexual harassment allegations.
‘As elected officials, we should be held to the highest standards—not the lowest. The allegations against Sen. Franken describe behavior that cannot be tolerated. While he’s entitled to an Ethics Committee hearing, I believe he should step aside to let someone else serve,’ wrote Gillibrand on Twitter.
Gillibrand, who has made harassment in the military a top issue, also wrote on Facebook: ‘I consider Senator Franken to be a friend and have enjoyed working with him in the Senate in our shared fight to help American families. But this moment of reckoning about our friends and colleagues who have been accused of sexual misconduct is necessary, and it is painful. We must not lose sight that this watershed moment is bigger than any one industry, any one party, or any one person.’
Franken on Wednesday denied a new sexual misconduct accusation that came from a former Democratic congressional aide that he tried to forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006.
The Minnesota Democrat said in a statement that the allegation, reported by Politico, was ‘categorically not true.’
The woman, who was not identified by name, said Franken pursued her after her boss had left and she was collecting her belongings. She said she ducked to avoid his lips, and that Franken told her: ‘It’s my right as an entertainer.’
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