Franken responds to groping allegations: My conduct 'makes me feel ashamed'

Al Franken.
(Image credit: JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Democratic Sen. Al Franken (Minn.) issued a statement in response to reporter Leeann Tweeden's account of him groping her in her sleep and kissing her without her consent while on a USO tour in 2006. "I respect women," he said. "I don't respect men who don't. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed."

It was Franken's second statement in response to the allegations Thursday, after he initially told an NBC reporter that he did not remember the incident "in the same way" as Tweeden described it but nonetheless sent his "sincerest apologies to Leeann." Regarding a photo Tweeden provided of him groping her breasts while she was asleep, Franken said it was "clearly intended to be funny but wasn't."

In his second, longer statement, Franken said: "There's no excuse [for the photo]. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself." Franken said he was asking for an ethics investigation into his own conduct, concluding: "What people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward." Read the full statement below. Jeva Lange

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
See more
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.