Franken apologizes after groping claim

TV host accuses senator in ’06 incident; leaders call for inquiry

WASHINGTON – Sen. Al Franken apologized to a TV host and sportscaster who accused the Minnesota Democrat of kissing and groping her without her consent — and promised to cooperate with any investigation into the 2006 incident.

“I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate,” Franken said in a statement Thursday.

Hours earlier, Leeann Tweeden wrote an online post describing how Franken, while they were on a USO tour in the Middle East to entertain U.S. troops, “put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.”

Franken is the first sitting lawmaker in Washington to be publicly accused of sexual harassment or abuse in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein harassment scandal, though the alleged incident took place before his time in Congress.

Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Ethics Committee to review the allegations.

Tweeden, who is now a morning news anchor on KABC Radio in Los Angeles, said the incident took place backstage when the two were practicing lines for a skit written by Franken, who was then a comedian. Franken, according to Tweeden, had insisted the skit include a kiss but she did not want to go through with it.

“I felt disgusted and violated,” Tweeden wrote. “Not long after, I performed the skit as written, carefully turning my head so he couldn’t kiss me on the lips.”

Tweeden also wrote that Franken groped her while she was sleeping during the flight home, which she only discovered by reviewing a photo on a CD of images from the trip. The photo featured her asleep and Franken holding her breasts.

Franken apologized for both allegations after Tweeden’s account published Thursday, apologizing to the broadcaster and “everyone else who was part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women.”

Franken, who earlier Thursday said the photo “was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t,” said there was “no excuse” for the photograph.

Franken also addressed Tweeden’s accusations that he had kissed her without her consent, saying while he did not “remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.”