New groping allegations surface ahead of Al Franken's appearance in Portland
by Evan Schreiber
Monday, September 30th 2019
In a cover story published this week in
New York Magazine, the article details stories of women and men who came forward about sexual abuse and harassment. The report also tells the previously untold account of a woman who says Franken groped her buttocks at an event in 2006.
“I was just out of college in my first job, working for U.S. senator Patty Murray,” she told New York Magazine, talking about why she’s kept silent until now and why she still fears using her name. Franken was reportedly exploring a run for the Senate at the time. He ended up running for the senate seat in 2008. Franken, a Democrat, served as US senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018.
The reporter granted Franken's latest accuser anonymity,
according to author Irin Carmon.
"The woman worked the photo line, and when it was her turn to be photographed with Franken, she said, 'he puts his hand on my a--,'" the
New York Magazine article explains. "'He’s telling the photographer, ‘Take another one. I think I blinked. Take another one.’ And I’m just frozen. It’s so violating. And then he gives me a little squeeze on my buttock, and I am bright red. I don’t say anything at the time, but I felt deeply, deeply uncomfortable.'"
Franken is
hosting a weekly show on SiriusXM. He told New York Magazine, “Two years ago, I would have sworn that I’d never done anything to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but it’s clear that I must have been doing something. As I’ve said before, I feel terrible that anyone came away from an interaction with me feeling bad.”
The event page promoting his Revolution Hall appearance makes no mention of the accusations against Franken that forced his regisnation. The website says, "As Franken said when he left the Senate, 'I may be giving up my seat, but not my voice.'"
Although the New York Magazine report does not give the name of Franken's latest accuser, it explains she is a military veteran who is now a senior staffer at a major progressive organization. "She is the ninth woman to accuse Franken of inappropriate conduct and the fourth to say Franken grabbed her butt," the article explains. "New York also spoke to three individuals in whom she had confided after the first Franken accusations emerged; she says that she did not tell anyone about the incident after it happened out of embarrassment."
https://nbc16.com/news/local/new-se...QhCuw5h59LlMd0J1GqjQd4VuF5QQhmXVM4Nxo4w3tXeCs