ME TOO

Radio Host: Al Franken Groped and Kissed Me Without Consent

A photo shows Franken grabbing at a colleague’s chest while she slept during a USO tour.

A Los Angeles-based radio anchor on Thursday accused Sen. Al Franken of kissing her without her consent and groping her while she was asleep. The incident allegedly occurred in December 2006 when the two were flying back to L.A. from a USO Tour to entertain deployed troops in Afghanistan. Leeann Tweeden said that, upon returning, she found a photograph showing Franken grabbing at her breasts while she slept. She also recalled how Franken had written skits for the show with a role for her that included a moment when his character would come at her for a kiss. Backstage before the performance, he allegedly badgered her to rehearse the kiss and then stuck his tongue down her throat when she relented. “Every time I hear his voice or see his face, I am angry,” she wrote. “I am angry that I did his stupid skit for the rest of that tour. I am angry that I didn’t call him out in front of everyone when I had the microphone in my hand every night after that. I wanted to. But I didn’t want to rock the boat.” Franken's press office later responded: “I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it.” The senator later said in a statement that he is “asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.”