Al Franken apologizes after accusations he kissed and groped broadcaster Leeann Tweeden without her consent
WASHINGTON – Sen. Al Franken apologized to the 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 that has rocked the country, though the alleged incident took place before his time in Congress.
Tweeden, who is now a morning news anchor on KABC Radio in Los Angeles, said the incident took place back stage when the two were practicing their 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.
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"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."
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Yet she did not report what happened. In a press conference Thursday, Tweeden said, "I just made sure I was never alone with him again…What was I going to do? Be the troublemaker?”
Tweeden also wrote that Franken groped her while she was sleeping during the flight home, which she only discovered by reviewing a photograph on a CD of images from the trip. The photo featured her asleep and Franken holding her breasts.
"I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep," she wrote. "I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated. How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?"
Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., both called on the Senate Ethics Committee to review the allegations.
“As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter," McConnell said in a statement. "Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable—in the workplace or anywhere else."
Schumer said: “Sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated. I hope and expect that the Ethics Committee will fully investigate this troubling incident, as they should with any credible allegation of sexual harassment.”
Meanwhile, the campaign arm for House Republicans called on Democrats to return any cash they received from the senator. “These allegations are disgusting and Democrats who took Sen. Franken’s campaign money need to take action,” National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Matt Gorman said Thursday. “Return his donations and do it immediately.”
Franken apologized for both allegations after Tweeden's account published on 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.
“I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter,” he said. “There's no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate. It’s obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture. And what’s more, I can see how millions of other women would feel violated by it – women who have had similar experiences in their own lives, women who fear having those experiences, women who look up to me, women who have counted on me.”
The senator also addressed Tweeden’s accusations that he had kissed her without her consen, 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.”
Speaking later on CNN, Tweeden said she accepted Franken's apologies.
She described his first apology from Thursday morning as "hastily” put together, but acknowledged his lengthier, follow-up statement seemed more “heartfelt.”
“I honestly do believe him,” she said. “I wasn’t waiting for an apology for him, but I gladly accept it. And thank you, Sen. Franken.”
After the 2006 incidents, Tweeden wrote that she wanted "to shout my story to the world with a megaphone to anyone who would listen, but even as angry as I was, I was worried about the potential backlash and damage going public might have on my career as a broadcaster."
During a Tuesday congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, female lawmakers including Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said there are sitting members of Congress who've also behaved inappropriately but declined to name names.
Speier also appeared on Tweeden's show a few weeks ago, and told a story about being sexually assaulted when she was a congressional aide, which inspired the TV host to speak out now.
"At that moment, I thought to myself, Al Franken did that exact same thing to me. I had locked up those memories of helplessness and violation for a long time, but they all came rushing back to me and my hands clinched into fists like it was yesterday," Tweeden wrote.
"I’m still angry at what Al Franken did to me. Every time I hear his voice or see his face, I am angry. I am angry that I did his stupid skit for the rest of that tour. I am angry that I didn’t call him out in front of everyone when I had the microphone in my hand every night after that. I wanted to. But I didn’t want to rock the boat. I was there to entertain the troops and make sure they forgot about where they were for a few hours. Someday, I thought to myself, I would tell my story. That day is now.
"Senator Franken, you wrote the script. But there’s nothing funny about sexual assault."
Since becoming a lawmaker, Franken has made a name for himself as a progressive, and has taken strong stances against sexual assault and harassment.
“Sexual harassment and violence are unacceptable,” he tweeted in October, as the #MeToo campaign started trending on Twitter. After revelations that Hollywood director Weinstein assaulted many actresses and other women, victims of sexual abuse and harassment started sharing their stories online. As the floodgate of assault reports opened, Franken tweeted, “We all must do our part to listen, stand with, and support survivors.”
Franken once mentioned his USO tour with Tweeden while speaking on the Senate floor in 2010 about policies surrounding gays in the military.
He was describing a monologue he did for troops about the policy, and included an offhand mention of Tweeden, and commented on her appearance: “I was kind of a co-host with this beautiful woman named Leeann Tweeden and we did comedy routines.”
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In the Senate, Franken has also co-sponsored a bill about supporting survivors of sexual violence in tribal communities.
“An alarming number of American Indians face sexual violence in their lifetime, and it’s frequently at the hands of non-Indians. But because tribes lack jurisdiction over non-Indian offenders, criminals often go unprosecuted, unpunished, and are free to commit more crimes,” he wrote on Facebook in October. “This must be addressed, and one of the most important steps we can take is to give tribes more power to hold offenders accountable for these heinous acts.”
Before jumping into politics, Franken was best known as a comedian. An original writer for Saturday Night Live, he worked on the show from 1975 to 1980 and again from 1985 to 1995.
He continued to work in the entertainment industry after leaving SNL. During that time, he headlined several USO tours in Iraq.
Long before launching his own political career, Franken dabbled in politics. That included writing a parody book, Why Not Me?, which imagined a 2000 presidential run that never materialized.
Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was his mentor. After Wellstone died in a plane crash in 2002, Franken, who grew up in Minnesota, was reportedly very affected by Wellstone’s death. He talked about running for Wellstone’s seat, and moved back to the state in late 2005. During that same time period, he launched the progressive Midwest Values PAC.
He announced his candidacy for the seat in February 2007, just a few months after the alleged incident between himself and Tweeden.
Franken was elected to the Senate in 2008.
Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen, Eliza Collins
