UPDATED with more details: “Today
I am announcing that, in the coming weeks, I will be resigning as a
member of the United States Senate,” Al Franken said from the floor of
the Senate Thursday morning – one day after more than 30 Dem colleagues
suddenly demanded he step down over allegations he had harassed women
with unwanted touching and kissing.
“I, of all people, am aware there is some irony I am
leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual
assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on
young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his
party,” Franken said.
“A couple months ago, I felt that we had entered an
important moment in the history of this country. We were finally
beginning to listen to women about the way in which men’s actions affect
them…I was excited for that conversation and hopeful it would result in
real change that made life better for women across the country and in
every part of our society. Then the conversation turned to me.”
Saying he had been “shocked” and “upset” by the
allegations, Franken explained he “also wanted to be respectful of that
broader conversation. Because all women deserve to be heard and their
experiences taken seriously.” And, while continuing to insist that had
been the right thing to do (in marked contrast to the stout denial
strategy of others) Franken acknowledged “I also think it gave some
people the false impression that I was admitting to doing thing I
haven’t done.”
“Some of the allegations against me simply are not true. Others I remember very differently,” he said.
Franken scolded his colleagues for denying him a full
Senate Ethics Committee hearing, calling it the proper venue to
determine his fate in politics, and reminding those in the hall who, on
Wednesday, demanded his immediate ouster, that he had volunteered to
cooperate fully and accept the outcome of that investigation.
“An important part o the conversation we been
having last few months is about how men abuse their power and privilege
to hurt women. I am proud that during time in the senate I have used m
power to be a champion of women, and that I have earned a reputation as
someone who respects the women I work alongside every day. A very
different picture of me has been painted over the last few weeks, but I
know who I am.”
Franken acknowledged he will always regret
“having to walk away from this job” but said he has faith in his staff,
those who elected him, and “the progressive advocacy I have the
privilege to be part of.”
As to the senate itself, Franken added,
pointedly, “and I have faith – or at least hope – that member of this
senate will find the political courage necessary to keep asking the
tough questions, hold this administration accountable, and stand up for
the truth.”
As he wrapped his speech, “Al Franken” began top-trending worldwide.
While stunning, coming from the floor of the
U.S. Senate,
Franken’s announcement wasn’t exactly a shocker, as media outlets began
reporting his intention late Wednesday, and Thursday morning TV news
talent began playing “I Said It First” as he headed to the Hill:
Franken got shoved to this moment one day earlier when his Dem
colleagues suddenly stampeded him. Within just a few hours Wednesday,
more than 30 Dem senators had demanded he relinquish the seat he’d held
since 2008.
The rush coincided with GOP’s moving ever closer to Alabama’s
candidate for the U.S. Senate Roy Moore, an accused pedophile, with that
vote set for Tuesday. John Conyers having announced his
immediate”retirement,” Dems needed Franken gone to occupy the moral high
ground, TV news pundits noted. Some wagged their fingers at the Dems
for having shoved out Franken without due process, while savaging Trump
for attacking democratic institutions.
“It’s about winning, not about taking the right moral position,” scolded/Washington-explained one.
Franken said Wednesday afternoon that he would make a statement
Thursday morning, after a seventh woman’s harassment claims against the
former
Saturday Night Live writer/performer.
Some media outlets reported late Wednesday he was going to announce
his resignation, but his camp insisted no decision had yet been made.
Wednesday started with four female Dem senators calling for Franken
to step down. By end of day the number had grown to more than 30,
including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who said in a statement, “I
consider Senator Franken a dear friend and greatly respect his
accomplishments, but he has a higher obligation to his constituents and
the Senate, and he should step down immediately.”
DNC chair Tom Perez echoed that sentiment:
“Sen. Al Franken should step down. Everyone must share the
responsibility of building a culture of trust and respect for women in
every industry and workplace, and that includes our party.”
Several more women had come forward Wednesday with claims the
Minnesota senator had grabbed them or tried to force a kiss. An unnamed
former Democratic Congressional aide told political web site Politico
that Franken tried to force a kiss from her in 2006 at the end of one of
Franken’s radio shows, claiming it was “my right as an entertainer.”
Franken called this latest allegation “categorically not true,”
after previously mostly sticking to various iterations of a
got-no-recollection-but-apologize response to earlier claims, again
saying he would gladly cooperate with the Senate Ethics Committee probe.
Last month, radio host Leeann Tweeden was first to allege she had been harassed by Franken. Tweeden charged the former
Saturday Night Live
writer/performer with “mashing” his face up to hers and sticking his
tongue in her mouth, when rehearsing a skit he’d written for their USO
tour performance, in 2006. She was aware of the kissing bit, but said
she agreed to the rehearsal kiss only reluctantly, so he would stop
badgering her about it.
On the flight home from that USO tour, Franken had posed in a photo,
with his hands hovering over her breasts as she was sleeping, which
Tweeden produced during her presser, and on various TV programs.
Franken apologized, which Tweeden said she accepted.
“I wasn’t calling for his resignation, I wasn’t calling for his
career to end,” Tweeden said the next day. ”I didn’t want any of that. I
just wanted to shine the light and stand on the shoulders of these
other women to go, ‘This is not right, this is not what should be
happening in our society.’”
Later last month, female staff members of
Saturday Night Live released a letter defending
Franken amid the sexual harassment allegations against him.
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