McConnell: Ethics Committee should review Franken allegations
Source: The Hill
BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 11/16/17 11:46 AM EST
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is calling on the Senate Ethics Committee to review allegations that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) kissed and groped a woman without her consent in 2006.
As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter. I hope the Democratic Leader will join me on this. Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable in the workplace or anywhere else," McConnell said in a statement.
Leeann Tweeden, a TV host and sports broadcaster, accused Franken of groping her, without her consent, while she was asleep. She provided a photo as evidence. The incident happened in December 2006, she said, when she and Franken, then a comedian, were on a USO Tour to "entertain our troops."
Franken apologized on Thursday, saying, "I certainly dont remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann."
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/360680-mcconnell-ethics-committee-should-review-franken-allegations
Boilingpots
(17 posts)GOP dinosaur totally unable to grasp the concept of a joke and a skit.
forgotmylogin
(7,538 posts)The rightwing wants to defend Roy Moore and McConnell has repudiated him.
I'm not in any way excusing Franken's behavior, and he's wrong, but I do think there's a degree of difference between Franken's boorish behavior, and Moore trying to take off a 14-year-old girl's clothing in a car parked behind a restaurant.
Franken sexually harassed his accuser, Moore sexually assaulted his.
aeromanKC
(3,328 posts)Al apologized, Trump Bragged!!
rurallib
(62,460 posts)be nice to see an investigation of his ties to his father-in-law's shady shipping business.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,125 posts)server fries at McDonald's let alone run the Senate.
You fucking TRAITOR
Freethinker65
(10,064 posts)And lets see how many congressmen (current and former) have harassment settlements against them. Have every last living one of them testify before a panel of their female peers.
PearliePoo2
(7,768 posts)If he gets rid of Franken then the loss of a RePug seat in Alabama isn't as bad as it seemed 24 hours ago.
fuck!
Mr.Bill
(24,334 posts)he doth protest too much.
OneBlueDotBama
(1,385 posts)of what you wish for Mitch...DC is a very small town and Pickle park is a very small park.
Atticus
(15,124 posts)through a bullet-proof vest. The man's a pervert! Emails! Benghazi! Fast and Furious!
orangecrush
(19,633 posts)C_U_L8R
(45,021 posts)orangecrush
(19,633 posts)to Mcturtle
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)male aides have been groped by McConnell? Does he think that only females can be sexually harassed, I wonder. One of his male aides took a job a few blocks away from McConnell's office, and McConnell CRIED real tears saying goodbye!! Anything strange about that? After a few short weeks in the army, he was discharged for "questionable conduct in the showers". Let the ethics committee investigate THAT.
KPN
(15,662 posts)If so, let's get this stuff out there on the media.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)common knowledge for years. I just do not think it is right to marry, have kids just for show when a person is really homosexual. Be open and honest, and do not malign others for their actions while you are living your own lie. Look up his bio.
KPN
(15,662 posts)I'll check out his bio then.
avebury
(10,952 posts)then they need to also be conducting a thorough investigation of Trump and his clam. That alone would leave them with no time to try to create legislation.
Skittles
(153,211 posts)FloridaBlues
(4,008 posts)But Sara Hickabee says their all lying
Skittles
(153,211 posts)what a sleazy bag of shit he is
SunSeeker
(51,740 posts)And she was not sleeping sitting up, not through that, not with Al and others in the room and a camera clicking away. The fact that she is a Trump supporter makes it smell even worse. Shades of Linda Tripp.
forgotmylogin
(7,538 posts)BUT...I thought there was something weirdly staged about that photo.
I've seen a zoomed out version, and there's another guy who appears similarly "asleep" on the right side.
She said she was "sleeping"...but why are two people conked out in chairs next to each other?
If you're going to catch a nap backstage during a show, slumped back in a folding chair by the electrical panel is not really how you do it.
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)I believe that it in the back of a C-17 cargo plane and she was exhausted.
I'm sorry, but even if his hands are not on her, he's degrading her and treating her like an object.
forgotmylogin
(7,538 posts)I also have worked in the theater where among your cast, you get over a sense of timidity and shyness really quickly. I have done quick changes five feet offstage where I was completely stripped to a dance belt and re-dressed by three women, one of whose job it was to secure a microphone pack in a pouch hanging over my ass, and then tape a wire up my back so it could be clipped into my hair. It's part of the job. When you work with other performers, especially in comedy, you learn that sometimes for a joke, your job is to portray an "object" and someone is going to grab your ass or your boob and you become familiar with friends and it seriously is no big deal because you know they are not harassing you, they're getting a laugh. There is a sense of hyper-familiarity on and off stage. I've posed for staged cast photos where you take the serious ones, and then for laughs, you take the last one where everyone is humping each other and has their hands all over where they shouldn't be because you are all friends and it's funny because you're wearing period costumes for HELLO DOLLY. Yes, theater people are weird, and that shocks a lot of civilians.
The fact that Franken posed for this picture where at least four people were present pretty much signifies he was not doing this in any way to gratify himself sexually. It was a crude joke, and it sounds like the lady had a copy of this picture and apparently wasn't too concerned about it until the Republicans needed a "well, they did it too!" distraction.
I'm not excusing Franken. He did it, she brought up that she was offended but didn't make that clear at the time, he apologized, and she apparently accepted.
MrModerate
(9,753 posts)That under Obamacare, you can get treatment for your lameness, no matter how long you've suffered?
Of course, they'd better sign up quickly . . .