ETHICS/LEGAL/POLITICAL FIGURES/WOMEN: “Senator Al Franken, addressing reporters here for the first time since reports emerged that he had groped several women, said on Monday that he was sorry and would be getting back to work to try to regain the trust of women, voters and his colleagues…
Four women have accused Mr. Franken, who was a well-known comedian before joining the Senate in 2009, of groping them. In one case, Leeann Tweeden, an actress and radio broadcaster, said Mr. Franken had forcibly kissed and inappropriately touched her during a 2006 U.S.O. tour of the Middle East. She also released a photograph of Mr. Franken with his hands placed over her chest.
Mr. Franken apologized for that incident and three others in which women accused him of grabbing their buttocks while posing for pictures.
Mr. Franken’s case has been referred to the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate. Committee policy prevents its members from commenting on potential or open cases.”
-Nicholas Fandos, “Al Franken, Battling for His Political Life, Apologizes for Groping,” The New York Times online, Nov. 27, 2017