Dupuy said the event occurred after a recount had been called for in a Senate race that Franken would go on to win to gain his seat in Congress.
Another woman came forward Wednesday with an allegation of sexual misconduct against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is facing calls to resign from a majority of Democratic senators.
Tina Dupuy said Franken groped her while posing for a photo during a party for the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters to celebrate Barack Obama’s first inauguration as president. Dupuy, who said she’d been married for two years at the time, said she approached Franken for a picture, after which he inappropriately touched her.
“We posed for the shot,” she wrote in a piece for The Atlantic . “He immediately put his hand on my waist, grabbing a handful of flesh. I froze. Then he squeezed. At least twice.”
Dupuy said the incident “shrunk” her down from feeling like a person to a mere ornament. “He wanted to cop a feel and he demonstrated he didn’t need my permission,” she wrote.
Dupuy said the event occurred after a recount had been called for in a Senate race that Franken would go on to win to gain his seat in Congress.
The allegation emerges as Franken faces a firestorm of calls from Democratic officials in his own chamber to resign. An overwhelming majority of Democratic senators, spearheaded by a group of female lawmakers Wednesday morning, called for the Minnesota lawmaker to step aside amid numerous allegations of sexual misconduct.
“While Senator Franken is entitled to have the Ethics Committee conclude its review, I believe it would be better for our country if he sent a clear message that any kind of mistreatment of women in our society isn’t acceptable by stepping aside to let someone else serve,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said in a Facebook post.
Last month, Los Angeles radio broadcaster Leeann Tweeden came forward with a photo that appeared to show Franken groping her while they traveled abroad to entertain troops in the Middle East. Tweeden said Franken also tried to forcibly kiss her while rehearsing a skit.
Since then, several other women have come forward with allegations of misconduct against Franken, including a former congressional aide who told POLITICO that Franken similarly tried to forcibly kiss her following an interview on his radio program in 2006, before he became a senator.
The former staffer, whose identity POLITICO withheld over safety concerns, said she ducked to avoid Franken’s lips. As he exited the room, she said, Franken told her: “It’s my right as an entertainer.”
The women’s allegations have prompted an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
Franken announced that he would hold a news conference Thursday in which he is expected to address the calls for his resignation.
