Eighth woman accuses Al Franken of groping her: 'There's a rot in the Democratic Party'

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published 6 December 2017

Writer Tina Dupuy became the eighth woman to accuse Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) of inappropriate sexual behavior, claiming he groped her while they were taking a photo at a party in 2009. "I only bug celebrities for pictures when it'll make my foster mom happy," Dupuy wrote Wednesday at The Atlantic. "She loves Franken, so I asked to get a picture with him. We posed for the shot. He immediately put his hand on my waist, grabbing a handful of flesh. I froze. Then he squeezed. At least twice."

Earlier Wednesday, Franken's seventh accuser came forward to say that the Minnesota senator tried to kiss her without consent during a taping of his radio show in 2006, an allegation Franken said was "categorically not true." Just hours later, dozens of Democratic senators called on Franken to resign. His office said he will make a statement Thursday.

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I'm also no longer defending Bill Clinton. I'm ashamed I ever did. But I'm not condemning or admonishing Hillary. I think we all make the choices that seem right at the time. I don't feel like pummeling her with my privilege of hindsight. But there's a rot in the Democratic Party. It's not just bad men and exhausted women; it's that we chose Bill over the women. And that original sin lost us the election of what we all assumed would be the first female president of the United States. And Trump, who boasted he could "grab 'em by the pussy," being in the White House doesn't make that untrue. It just makes it a painful irony. [The Atlantic]

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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.

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