USA TODAY US Edition

Second woman accuses Al Franken of sexual misconduct

Alleged incident came after election to Senate

- Heidi M. Przybyla Lindsay Menz, now 33, says she immediatel­y told her mother and father about the incident and posted on Facebook about it.

WASHINGTON – A second woman is accusing Al Franken of sexual misconduct — this time, as a Democratic senator from Minnesota.

Lindsay Menz, a 33-year-old from Texas, told CNN that the senator pulled her in close and grabbed her buttocks while the two were posing for a picture at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. Menz says she immediatel­y told her mother and father about the incident and posted on Facebook about it, according to the network.

Menz is the second woman to accuse Franken of inappropri­ate touching.

Last week, Leeann Tweeden said Franken, while they were on a USO tour in the Middle East to entertain U.S. troops, stuck his tongue down her throat and pretended to grope her while she was sleeping in a later picture. Tweeden, who is now a morning news anchor on KABC Radio in Los Angeles, said it took place backstage when the two were practicing their lines for a skit written by Franken, who was then a comedian.

That incident took place in 2006, before Franken's time in Congress. The latest accusation by Menz allegedly took place nearly two years after Franken was elected to the Senate.

The accusation makes Franken the first senator to be publicly accused of sexual assault or harassment in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein harassment scandal that has rocked the country.

 ?? LEEANN TWEEDEN/790 KABC ?? Broadcaste­r Leeann Tweeden shared this December 2006 photo in which she says Al Franken groped her without her consent on a USO Tour.
LEEANN TWEEDEN/790 KABC Broadcaste­r Leeann Tweeden shared this December 2006 photo in which she says Al Franken groped her without her consent on a USO Tour.

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