Franken says he will return to work
MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Sen. Al Franken said he feels “embarrassed and ashamed” amid allegations that he groped several women, but said he looks forward to returning to work on Monday and gradually regaining voters’ trust.
The Democrat from Minnesota spoke to a handful of media outlets on Sunday in the first interviews he’s granted since being swept into a nationwide tide of sexual misconduct allegations. Four women have accused the him of sexual misconduct. Three women allege Franken grabbed their buttocks while taking photos with them during separate incidents at campaign events in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Franken told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he doesn’t remember taking the specific photos, but said such groping is “not something I would intentionally do.”
Asked whether he expected other women to step forward with similar allegations, Franken said: “If you had asked me two weeks ago, ‘Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect?’ I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surprise . ... I certainly hope not.”
The first woman to come forward was Los Angeles radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden. She released a photo earlier this month showing the then-comedian grinning while reaching out toward her chest, as if to grope her, as she slept on a military aircraft during a USO tour in 2006.