'Ashamed' Franken says he won't quit U.S. Senate over groping accusations

[webfact]

'Ashamed' Franken says he won't quit U.S. Senate over groping accusations

 

FILE PHOTO: Senator Al Franken (D-MN) meets with constituents at Minnesota Farmfest in Redwood County, Minnesota, U.S. August 6, 2014. REUTERS/Craig Lassig/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Al Franken, trying to salvage his political career, said on Sunday he does not plan to resign but called himself "embarrassed and ashamed" by his behaviour towards women who have accused him of groping or inappropriately touching them.

 

Franken, a Democrat and former comedian who has represented Minnesota in the Senate since 2009, said in a round of media interviews -- his first since the allegations surfaced on Nov. 16 -- that he looked forward to returning to his job on Monday.

 

"I'm embarrassed and ashamed. I've let a lot of people down and I'm hoping I can make it up to them and gradually regain their trust," Franken told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

 

Franken resisted comparisons between his behaviour and that of Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat from Alabama who has been accused of improper conduct involving teenage girls decades ago.

 

"I'm going to take responsibility. I'm going to be held accountable through the ethics committee," said Franken, whose behaviour is being investigated by the Senate ethics panel. "And I'm going to hopefully be a voice in this that is helpful. ... Again, I respect women. What kills me about this is it gives people a reason to believe I don't respect women."

 

In a separate interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Franken, one of the leading liberal voices in the Senate, said has no plans to quit.

 

When asked if he had considered resigning, Franken said: "No, no. The ethics committee is looking into this and I will cooperate fully with it."

 

Pressed about stepping aside and allowing a woman to take his seat, Franken told Minnesota Public Radio, "I'm committed to working as hard as I can here in the Senate for the people of Minnesota."

 

Franken's office had previously issued statements in which he either apologised or said he could not remember behaving in the manner the women have described. He has not denied any of the allegations.

 

Franken was first accused of sexual misconduct by radio broadcaster Leann Tweeden. She said Franken had forcibly kissed her during a 2006 USO war zone tour, and a photo showed him with his hands over her chest while she was sleeping.

 

Four days later, a woman named Lindsay Menz told CNN that Franken had touched her buttocks while the two were being photographed in 2010 at the Minnesota State Fair.

 

Franken has apologised to Tweeden, and has said he does not remember the incident with Menz. Last week, two other women told the Huffington Post Franken had touched their buttocks in separate incidents. The article did not provide the names of those two accusers.

 

"I don't remember these photographs, I don't," Franken told the Star Tribune. "This is not something I would intentionally do."

 

"I have been reflecting on this," Franken told Minnesota Public Radio of the allegations. "I want to be a better man."

 

Franken is among a long list of celebrities and politicians who have been accused of sexual misconduct. The recent wave of accusations, some of them dating back for decades, began in October.

 

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit; Editing by Frank McGurty and Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-27

[Boon Mee]

Ashamed?  Ashamed?

If he was genuinely ashamed he'd step down.  Obviously, this guy has no ethics or morals.

[darksidedog]

16 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Ashamed?  Ashamed?

If he was genuinely ashamed he'd step down.  Obviously, this guy has no ethics or morals.

That smacks of hypocrisy coming from you. Trump had many, many, more allegations against him, accusing him of far more serious sexual assault, and yet you stand by him, while suggesting a Democrat should resign. How does that guy have no morals or ethics, but Trump somehow does?

[canuckamuck]

The curtain draws closed for the western male. Every bottom pat in your life history from high school on up is now hovering over your head like the sword of Damocles. Even if you can't remember it, and even if there is no evidence. 

[steven100]

everyone wants to get on the bandwagon .....  it's all for $$ .....  the only people who will come out smiling are all the lawyers ...

If something wasn't reported within a couple of months after the alleged then it should be trashed.  !!

[klauskunkel]

There is a simple solution to all of this:

These are lawmakers. Make a law that allows groping. Congress and Senate is mostly male, that President would support it for sure, and Hollywood would breathe a sigh of relief.

(^this is satire^}

[Scott]

Troll post removed.  

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

That smacks of hypocrisy coming from you. Trump had many, many, more allegations against him, accusing him of far more serious sexual assault, and yet you stand by him, while suggesting a Democrat should resign. How does that guy have no morals or ethics, but Trump somehow does?

 

Franken has admitted it and says he's embarrassed and ashamed, but not resigning. Hypocrisy.

 

This thread is about Franken.

[impulse]

13 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

Franken has admitted it and says he's embarrassed and ashamed, but not resigning. Hypocrisy.

 

This thread is about Franken.

 

He was elected to do a job.  The voters can un-elect him if they're not satisfied with the job he's doing.  He can also be removed if he's broken any laws. 

 

In the meantime, he's got a job to do, given to him by his constituents, who should be the ones deciding whether his behavior merits being fired.  Not a PC media or a bunch of crusaders for all things pure and virtuous.

 

[IAMHERE]

Franken is smart, just hang on, the Minnesota electorate will mostly have forgotten all about this by 2020 when he runs again. His next election will be a runaway win for most any Democrat running for President and Franken will ride his coattails to another six year term. 

[joeyg]

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That smacks of hypocrisy coming from you. Trump had many, many, more allegations against him, accusing him of far more serious sexual assault, and yet you stand by him, while suggesting a Democrat should resign. How does that guy have no morals or ethics, but Trump somehow does?

"Thank You!"

[Dagnabbit]

31 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

He was elected to do a job.  The voters can un-elect him if they're not satisfied with the job he's doing.  He can also be removed if he's broken any laws. 

 

In the meantime, he's got a job to do, given to him by his constituents, who should be the ones deciding whether his behavior merits being fired.  Not a PC media or a bunch of crusaders for all things pure and virtuous.

 

 

Agreed - otherwise every time the opposition (on either side) want to oust someone - they just have to find a few women to claim their bums got squeezed.

 

AKA - the end of democracy.

[impulse]

6 minutes ago, Dagnabbit said:

Agreed - otherwise every time the opposition (on either side) want to oust someone - they just have to find a few women to claim their bums got squeezed.

 

AKA - the end of democracy.

 

Give me a few tens of thousand $$$ to spend, and I'll line up a dozen guys who will claim that Ellen DeGeneres molested them on a recent camping trip.   And she neither camps, nor plays on that team.

 

And that's peanuts in the scheme of election funding.  In fact, I'm surprised at the timing.  They gave him way too much time to recover before he's up for re-election.  (Unless they're trying to defuse something he's doing right now, and I don't follow Minnesota or DC politics close enough to know what that is)

 

[lannarebirth]

5 minutes ago, Dagnabbit said:

 

Agreed - otherwise every time the opposition (on either side) want to oust someone - they just have to find a few women to claim their bums got squeezed.

 

AKA - the end of democracy.

 

The end of squeezing bums anyway.

[craigt3365]

3 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Ashamed?  Ashamed?

If he was genuinely ashamed he'd step down.  Obviously, this guy has no ethics or morals.

Jeez. How two faced. Trump has way more serious allegations against him, but you're not calling for him to step down? 

 

PLEASE! Tell us why. Otherwise, you've lost the little credibility you had.

[impulse]

19 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

The end of squeezing bums anyway.

 

As long as guys have hands, bums will be squeezed... 

 

Purple nurples may be on their way out, though.

 

[lannarebirth]

22 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

As long as guys have hands, bums will be squeezed... 

 

Purple nurples may be on their way out, though.

 

 

In Italy it is the national pastime.

[connda]

2 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

The curtain draws closed for the western male. Every bottom pat in your life history from high school on up is now hovering over your head like the sword of Damocles. Even if you can't remember it, and even if there is no evidence. 

...even if you didn't do it.

[Scott]

Just now, lannarebirth said:

 

In Italy it is the national pastime.

Apparently, it is in Washington as well.  

 

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

In Italy it is the national pastime.

 

It's the secret handshake in Hollywood.  At least, that's what Harvey Weinstein liked them to think.

 

[lannarebirth]

Anybody giving odds that Robert Mueller has someone accuse him of sexual harassment before all our various national disgraces play themselves out?

[ilostmypassword]

3 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

The curtain draws closed for the western male. Every bottom pat in your life history from high school on up is now hovering over your head like the sword of Damocles. Even if you can't remember it, and even if there is no evidence. 

23 minutes ago, connda said:

...even if you didn't do it.

Even if you were recorded boasting about it.

And then claim that the recording was a fake:

Trump Is Apparently Telling People the Infamous Access Hollywood Tape Is a Fake

"President Donald Trump may be more disconnected from reality than we thought. In a long piece about why he has failed to distance himself from Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore despite the increasing number of sexual misconduct allegations, the New York Times reports that the commander in chief seems to be peddling an alternate version of history. Trump allegedly “suggested” to a senator earlier this year that the tape in which he can be heard boasting about how being famous meant he could “grab” women “by the pussy” without consequences “was not authentic,” according to the Times. "

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/11/26/trump_is_apparently_telling_people_the_infamous_access_hollywood_tape_is.html

 

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

How does that guy have no morals or ethics, but Trump somehow does?

And though Trump claimed the Hollywood audio tapes were merely locker room talk, he now dismisses them as possible fakes. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/trump-access-hollywood-tape-fake

Will Trump be suing Hollywood Access - no. Discovery will be a nightmare for him but his perjury might save a nation.

 

[joeyg]

45 minutes ago, Scott said:

Apparently, it is in Washington as well.  

 

I was never big on patting butts.  I always preferred sticking my <deleted> in them.  Really solidifies a friendship...

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, Dagnabbit said:

 

Agreed - otherwise every time the opposition (on either side) want to oust someone - they just have to find a few women to claim their bums got squeezed.

AKA - the end of democracy.

...and the beginning of buttocracy: vote with your butt (can't squeeze it, can't slap it, can't pinch it = it's a sacrosanct implement of politics!)

[smotherb]

6 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Ashamed?  Ashamed?

If he was genuinely ashamed he'd step down.  Obviously, this guy has no ethics or morals.

Gee, then I guess you think Trump ought to step down.

[smotherb]

2 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

Anybody giving odds that Robert Mueller has someone accuse him of sexual harassment before all our various national disgraces play themselves out?

Yeah, may be a good bet. Please do not think I am suggesting sexual harassment dos not occur, but my problem is how many of these charges are false. 

 

Please note, the following figures are actual RAPE allegations determined to be false in the UK and the US. How many simple sexual harassment charges are false, many more I would think..

 

“Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) into the investigation and prosecution of rape offences in England and Wales deemed that 164 allegations out of 1,379 were false allegations of rape (11.8%)”

 

“Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) that in the U.S. 8% of all allegations of rape were unfounded”

https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-prevalence-of-false-allegations-of-rape-in-the-united-states-from-20062010-2475-319X-1000119.pdf

[metisdead]

A post containing a link to the Daily Mail has been removed as the Daily Mail is blocked in Thailand:

 

[Scott]

5 hours ago, amvet said:

I didn't know this thread was about Trump too.  Great.  I think any President who is sued in court and accused of sexual assault by at least 4 women and lies under oath about it should resign and if his wife supports him and attacks his accusers she should be put in jail. 

Gee, I didn't know this thread was about Bill Clinton either. 

 

Stay on topic or face a suspension.   You have been warned. 

[mrwebb8825]

On 11/27/2017 at 10:19 AM, craigt3365 said:

Jeez. How two faced. Trump has way more serious allegations against him, but you're not calling for him to step down? 

 

PLEASE! Tell us why. Otherwise, you've lost the little credibility you had.

How about a little thing called "Proof"? Not to mention that AF admitted it AND there are photos.