{"id":89771,"date":"2017-11-21T11:47:44","date_gmt":"2017-11-21T15:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=89771"},"modified":"2017-11-21T11:48:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T15:48:30","slug":"holier-than-thou-al-franken-cops-another-sex-allegation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=89771","title":{"rendered":"Holier-than-thou Al Franken catches another sex allegation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Facing Second Accuser, Franken Sees His Once-Rising Star Dim<\/h1>\n


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Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, during a committee hearing in May. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and JONATHAN MARTINNOV. 20, 2017<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 After making the transition from comedy to politics, Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, positioned himself as a staunch defender of women\u2019s rights. \u201cSexual harassment and violence are unacceptable,\u2019\u2019 he\u00a0wrote on Twitter last month<\/a>. \u201cWe must all do our part to listen, stand with and support survivors.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Now it is Mr. Franken who stands accused, and his uncompromising stance in support of \u201csurvivors\u201d of harassment has left him few options but to apologize and try to weather the storm. On Monday, a second woman said the senator touched her inappropriately,\u00a0telling CNN<\/a>\u00a0that he grabbed her rear end as her husband took a photo of the two of them at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. Mr. Franken said that he did not remember the episode but that he was contrite nevertheless.<\/p>\n

The disclosure \u2014 just days after\u00a0Leeann Tweeden, a radio news anchor in California, accused Mr. Franken of forcibly kissing and groping her<\/a>\u00a0while he was working as a comedian in 2006 \u2014 complicates an already tenuous situation for Mr. Franken, making it more difficult for him to carry out his senatorial duties and raising questions about whether his political career can survive as he is likely to face an ethics investigation.<\/p>\n

Already, a rape victim with whom he was working on legislation\u00a0has asked him to no longer<\/a>\u00a0sponsor the bill<\/a>, which called for federal funding to train law enforcement officers in how to interview victims of sexual trauma. The victim, Abby Honold, 22, said in an interview on Monday that she had asked Mr. Franken\u2019s Minnesota colleague, Senator Amy Klobuchar, to take over his work on the measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy main focus is this bill,\u201d Ms. Honold said, \u201cand I think if his name was on it, it would send the wrong message.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. Franken, 66, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential aspirant in 2020, joined the Senate in 2009 after a successful career in comedy, including as a writer and cast member of \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d The new accusation against him, made by Lindsay Menz, 33, of Frisco, Tex., is the first to involve Mr. Franken\u2019s time as a senator.<\/p>\n

CNN reported Monday morning that Ms. Menz, who previously lived in Minnesota, reached out to the network after Ms. Tweeden went public last week, saying that she wanted to share an \u201cuncomfortable\u201d interaction that left her feeling \u201cgross.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Menz told CNN that she attended the Minnesota State Fair with her husband and father in summer 2010. Her father\u2019s business was sponsoring a radio booth, she said, and she spent the day meeting various elected officials and political candidates, including Mr. Franken, who was elected in 2008.<\/p>\n

When Mr. Franken walked into the booth, she said, they had a brief exchange and her husband held up her phone to take a photograph of the two of them.<\/p>\n

The network quoted her as saying that Mr. Franken \u201cpulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear,\u201d adding, \u201cit was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to the disclosure, Mr. Franken issued a statement, saying: \u201cI take thousands of photos at the state fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don\u2019t remember taking this picture. I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accusations involving Mr. Franken come during a roiling debate over sexual harassment and abuse that has tarnished powerful men in the news media and the entertainment industry and cost several their jobs.<\/p>\n

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GRAPHIC<\/h3>\n

After Weinstein: A List of Men Accused of Sexual Misconduct and the Fallout for Each<\/h2>\n

Since the Harvey Weinstein scandal, a number of high-profile men have resigned, been fired or experienced other fallout after claims of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>

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<\/i>\u00a0OPEN GRAPHIC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

On Monday, The New York Times\u00a0suspended Glenn Thrush<\/a>, a White House correspondent, while it investigates allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. And The Washington Post\u00a0published a report<\/a>\u00a0saying eight women had accused the longtime television host Charlie Rose of making unwanted sexual advances.<\/p>\n

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with their own scandal; in Alabama, multiple women have accused the Republican candidate for Senate, Roy S. Moore, of making inappropriate sexual advances toward them when they were teenagers.<\/p>\n

Mr. Franken issued an apology last week after Ms. Tweeden came forward, and he has supported calls from both Democrats and Republicans for the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate. While two prominent Democrats in Minnesota \u2014 including a candidate for governor \u2014 have said Mr. Franken should resign, his allies in Washington and at home remained steadfast Monday, only reiterating their calls for him to go before the ethics panel.<\/p>\n