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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:10 PM Nov 2017

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 don’t 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

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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McConnell: Ethics Committee should review Franken allegations (Original Post) DonViejo Nov 2017 OP
GOP Dinosaur Boilingpots Nov 2017 #1
At least he's so far being consistent. forgotmylogin Nov 2017 #19
Trump Bragged about sexual assault Grab em by the Pussy!! aeromanKC Nov 2017 #2
old Mitch pulls ethics out of his ass at the strangest time rurallib Nov 2017 #3
McConnell is a vile pile of human dung and not qualified to Eliot Rosewater Nov 2017 #4
Open hearing, tax payer $$. Loop recording of Trumps When youre a star, they let you do it... Freethinker65 Nov 2017 #5
Yeah, McTurtle is rubbing his little reptile claws together over this one. PearliePoo2 Nov 2017 #6
Methinks Mr.Bill Nov 2017 #7
Be Very, Very Careful ... OneBlueDotBama Nov 2017 #8
Yeah that's the way most gropers do it:. Mug for the camera and cop a feel Atticus Nov 2017 #9
Send turtle food orangecrush Nov 2017 #10
Baloney. It's a staged photo. A prank. C_U_L8R Nov 2017 #11
send turtle food orangecrush Nov 2017 #12
I wonder how many Scarsdale Nov 2017 #13
Interesting. Do you have sources/links. KPN Nov 2017 #21
It has been Scarsdale Nov 2017 #23
First I've heard anything like this. KPN Nov 2017 #27
If they want to conduct an ethics investigation of Senator Franklin avebury Nov 2017 #14
they can start with the photographer Skittles Nov 2017 #15
He needs to review trump and the 16 women who came out against trump FloridaBlues Nov 2017 #17
and they need to review McConnell, for sure Skittles Nov 2017 #18
His hands aren't even actually touching her in that photo. SunSeeker Nov 2017 #20
If Franken kissed her in a way she didn't want, that's wrong. forgotmylogin Nov 2017 #22
Not backstage MosheFeingold Nov 2017 #24
I agree. forgotmylogin Nov 2017 #25
Don't these 'Licans realize . . . MrModerate Nov 2017 #16
We could all chip in to get a chin for Mitch? Might change his outlook? n/m bagelsforbreakfast Nov 2017 #26

forgotmylogin

(7,538 posts)
19. At least he's so far being consistent.
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:51 PM
Nov 2017

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.

rurallib

(62,460 posts)
3. old Mitch pulls ethics out of his ass at the strangest time
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:14 PM
Nov 2017

be nice to see an investigation of his ties to his father-in-law's shady shipping business.

Eliot Rosewater

(31,125 posts)
4. McConnell is a vile pile of human dung and not qualified to
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:16 PM
Nov 2017

server fries at McDonald's let alone run the Senate.

You fucking TRAITOR

Freethinker65

(10,064 posts)
5. Open hearing, tax payer $$. Loop recording of Trumps When youre a star, they let you do it...
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:18 PM
Nov 2017

And let’s 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)
6. Yeah, McTurtle is rubbing his little reptile claws together over this one.
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:18 PM
Nov 2017

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!

OneBlueDotBama

(1,385 posts)
8. Be Very, Very Careful ...
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:22 PM
Nov 2017

of what you wish for Mitch...DC is a very small town and Pickle park is a very small park.

Atticus

(15,124 posts)
9. Yeah that's the way most gropers do it:. Mug for the camera and cop a feel
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:27 PM
Nov 2017

through a bullet-proof vest. The man's a pervert! Emails! Benghazi! Fast and Furious!

Scarsdale

(9,426 posts)
13. I wonder how many
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:32 PM
Nov 2017

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.

Scarsdale

(9,426 posts)
23. It has been
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 04:51 PM
Nov 2017

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.

avebury

(10,952 posts)
14. If they want to conduct an ethics investigation of Senator Franklin
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:33 PM
Nov 2017

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.

FloridaBlues

(4,008 posts)
17. He needs to review trump and the 16 women who came out against trump
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:36 PM
Nov 2017

But Sara Hickabee says their all lying

SunSeeker

(51,740 posts)
20. His hands aren't even actually touching her in that photo.
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:53 PM
Nov 2017

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)
22. If Franken kissed her in a way she didn't want, that's wrong.
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:59 PM
Nov 2017

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)
24. Not backstage
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 04:55 PM
Nov 2017

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)
25. I agree.
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 10:13 PM
Nov 2017

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)
16. Don't these 'Licans realize . . .
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 01:35 PM
Nov 2017

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 . . .

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