On Thursday, Leeann Tweeden appeared on "The View" and read from what she said was a personal apology letter from Sen. Al Franken.
I am disgusted, angry, and disappointed in Senator Al Franken's D MN sexual assault on Leeann Tweeden. I just expected better of him and find his actions shameful. At least he has had the sense not to attack the woman he sexually assaulted for going public with this incident and has apologized to her and agrees there should be an ethics investigation. The best outcome will be for Sen Franklin to resign after the investigation is completed as he no longer deserves to be a member of the US Senate. From NPR and DailyKos.....
Sen. Al Franken Accused Of Sexual Assault By LA Model And Radio Host
Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET
Another prominent public figure has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances. Los Angeles radio host Leeann Tweeden said now-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., forced himself on her and groped her while the two were on a USO tour in 2006.
Franken has apologized for his actions, calling them "inappropriate." Democratic and GOP leaders are now calling for a Senate ethics investigation, which Franken says he will cooperate with.
In a statement posted on KABC's website, Tweeden wrote that the incident occurred in December of that year, during a rehearsal for a USO holiday show in the Middle East. Franken, she said, wrote a skit in which he was to kiss Tweeden. She says Franken told her that "we need to rehearse the kiss."
Tweeden said she told the former Saturday Night Livestar "something like 'Relax Al, this isnt SNL...we dont need to rehearse the kiss.' " But she said he insisted and she relented. "We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."
She said she felt "disgusted and violated" but didn't report it because "we were in the middle of a war zone" and "I didn't want to cause trouble."
She said that on the way back from the tour, onboard an Army transport plane, while she was asleep, Franken groped her. Her post includes a photo of Franken with his hands on her chest, looking back at the camera and smiling. She is asleep, wearing a helmet and flak jacket.
At the time, Franken was performing as a professional comedian before running for the Senate. Tweeden was on her ninth USO tour and was known at the time for her work as a TV host, sportscaster and model.
Franken described their performances on USO tours during a 2010 Senate floor speech in opposition to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "I was a kind of co-host with a beautiful woman named Leeann Tweeden, and we'd do comedy routines and we'd introduce music and introduce the cheerleaders," Franken said.
Franken issued an initial statement: "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."
Later Thursday afternoon he put out an extended statement, apologizing further and asking for an ethics investigation with which he would "gladly cooperate."
In a news conference, Tweeden said, "Nothing like that is ever funny. I mean, is it funny if he does that to your sister or your daughter or your wife?"
On her own radio station she said that she wanted nothing from Franken. Tweeden said she spoke out now because "the tide has turned" and that she was inspired by the vocalness of Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who recounted her own experience with harassment as an aide on Capitol Hill in October and has been an advocate for change in reporting and training in Congress.
"If I'm talking about it, maybe somebody else will feel like they can come out in real time and not hold it in for 10, 12, 30, 50 years," Tweeden said.
Tweeden's accusation against Franken came two days after a House hearing on what was described as a pervasive problem of sexual misconduct in Congress and also as Republicans urged Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore to drop out of the race after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, including assault, when his accusers were mostly teenagers.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called for the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the Franken incident:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., later echoed McConnell's call for an ethics investigation, as have other Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
I support an ethics committee investigation into these accusations and I hope this latest example of the deep problems on this front spurs continued action to address it. twitter.com/PattyMurray/st…
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders offered no comment on Franken beyond saying that the White House believes an ethics investigation is "an appropriate action."
Donald Trump has yet to weigh in on Roy Moore having spent his 30s pursuing, molesting, and sexually assaulting teenage girls beyond sending his press secretary out to say that “these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously” but Moore shouldn’t drop out of his Alabama Senate race. But Al Franken having harassed a fellow performer on a 2006 USO tour? Although Franken has already called for an ethics investigation into himself, Trump is all over his original transgression:
Is it just me or does it sound like Trump knows exactly where his own hands would have gone? Oh, right, the entire nation knows where Trump’s hands would have gone.
And to think that Donald Trump is lecturing Al Franken about this when Trump's own accusers are in the double digits. You don’t have to be in denial about Franken having some serious amends to make to think that Trump of all people has no business lecturing, feigning outrage, or commenting at all—at least until he has a little more to say about the serial sexual predator of teen girls in his own party and up for election next month.
It’s almost like Trump only cares about sexual harassment when it’s useful for partisan purposes. No, wait. It’s exactly like that.
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