DEMOCRATIC SENATOR FACING SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS RESIGNS

WASHINGTON: Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota resigned on Thursday in the wake of a string of allegations that he touched women inappropriately.

Pressure was mounting on Franken, once a rising star of Democratic Party, from party colleagues to resign in the wake of allegations by several women.

Franken will be the second US congressman to resign following accusations of sexual harassment, following John Conyers, the number two Democrat in the House of Representatives, who was accused of verbal abuse, inappropriate touching and groping by several women over decades.

The two-term senator from Minnesota first came under national attention in November when a news anchor alleged he had forced a kiss on her and groped her while she slept during an entertainment tour of US forces in 2006. Franken was then a comedian.

Franken apologised and asked for a probe of his conduct by the senate’s ethics committee.

But several more women have come out since, making it difficult for him to continue, and for the Democratic party to support him given their calls for Roy Moore, a Republican running for the Senate from Alabama, to drop out. Moore faces a string allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour against women, some of whom were minors at the time.

Calls for Franken’s resignation have come from Democratic colleagues in the senate, led by New York Senator Kristen Gillibrand, who said in a statement, “I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn’t acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve.”