After all his trash talk about Trump and the various accusations against him concerning his treatment of women, Senator Al Franken has now been exposed as the sexual harasser he accused the president of being.
But it’s more than just an allegation against Franken, the accuser has photo evidence, and the senator has already come out and apologized. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell has called for an ethics committee probe to look into the incident and called on Democrats to cooperate. There’s no doubt the leftists in Congress are in a tight spot, but there’s at least one thus far that’s taken a stand against her fellow party member.
As reported at the Hill, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says that she believes the woman who’s accused Franken of groping and kissing her without her consent.
When asked if she believes the woman accusing Franken, Gillibrand simply replied, “I do.”
Leeann Tweeden, Franken’s accuser, wrote an online post Thursday in which she said Franken grabbed her breasts while she was sleeping during a USO Tour to entertain troops in the Middle East in December 2006. She also provided a photo to back up her claims. On top of fondling her in her sleep, Franken also apparently kissed her during rehearsal despite Tweeden not wanting him to.
Gillibrand briefly took questions on Franken after a press conference where she re-introduced a timely bill to tackle sexual assault in the military. She’s also the co-author of a bill introduced Wednesday to overhaul policies to combat and report complaints of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill. Meaning that she has no choice but to condemn sexual harassers, even if they’re members of her party.
In a statement, Franken apologized, claiming he doesn’t remember the rehearsal the same way and that the photo was meant to be a joke.
“I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Gillibrand told reporters that in her view, Franken’s comments about it “being a joke” were insufficient in explaining the incident.
“They are deeply concerning, and I expect to hear more from Sen. Franken,” she said of the allegations.
Asked if Franken should resign just like Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore should, Gillibrand reiterated both her opposition to Moore and her call to hear more from Franken.
“I feel very strongly that Roy Moore should not be a senator, and I feel strongly that if he is elected, that the Senate should have its own response to it,” she said. “I expect to hear more from Sen. Franken on this issue.” Funny how she’s willing to “hear more” from Franken but was so swift to condemn Moore once allegations surfaced.
Regardless, Gillibrand and her fellow leftists have little choice but to abandon Franken, considering their general stance on the issue and their rhetoric against Moore. But we’ll still have to wait in see if they find a way to squirm their way out of this scandal, since they’ve so masterfully ignored numerous serial abusers in their midst for decades.
Source: Hill