“Ashamed” US Sen. Al Franken says he will return to work Monday, days after four women who said they were touched inappropriately by the pol. In a…
“Ashamed” US Sen. Al Franken says he will return to work Monday, days after four women who said they were touched inappropriately by the pol.
In a statement to the Star-Truibune of Minnesota, Franken said he was “embarrassed and ashamed” by his behavior but was “looking forward to getting back to work.”
“I’ve let a lot of people down, and I’m hoping I can make it up to them and gradually regain their trust,” said Franken, who has kept out of the public eye since the allegations, including one from Playboy model-turned-radio-host Leeann Tweeden.
Last week, Tweeden publicized a photo of Franken hamming it up for the camera during a 2006 holiday USO tour with her — pretending to grope her breasts.
Other women claimed that he groped them during photos, also.
Franken said he has taken “tens of thousands of photos” over the years and doesn’t recall groping women’s backsides, as some have alleged.
“I don’t remember these photographs, I don’t,” he said. “This is not something I would intentionally do.”
Franken told the paper he’s spent the last week “thinking about how that could happen, and I just recognize that I need to be more careful and a lot more sensitive in these situations.”
When asked if the public could expect any more accusations against him, the senator waffled.
“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.”
Following accusations from Tweeden — who said Franken also forcibly kissed her — Lindsay Menz told CNN that Franken grabbed her buttocks while they posed for a picture in 2010 at the Minnesota State Fair.
Two other women, who spoke anonymously, said the pol grabbed their backsides. He allegedly asked one of them if she’d like to join him in the bathroom. The alleged incidents occurred in 2007 and 2008.
