Inside the demise of Al Franken
Female Democratic senators had been talking privately for weeks about how they were losing their patience as harassment claims piled up.
By ELANA SCHOR and SEUNG MIN KIM 12/06/2017 07:19 PM EST Updated 12/07/2017 09:29 AM EST
Al Franken weathered six women’s sexual misconduct allegations without hearing a single resignation call from his fellow Democratic senators. No. 7 broke the dam.
The Democratic women of the Senate had been talking among themselves about the Franken allegations for weeks, one Democratic aide said. None, however, went further than to call for a Senate Ethics Committee probe of the Minnesota senator, whom many had considered a close friend.
That stance became increasingly untenable as the accusations against Franken piled up. In calls and texts, the female senators eventually came to an unstated agreement, according to another aide familiar with their discussions: The next credible story of misconduct in a credible news outlet would prompt them to call for Franken's resignation.
When POLITICO reported Wednesday that a former Democratic congressional aide said Franken tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006, the aide said, it “was the tipping point.”
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https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/al-franken-democratic-senators-284915
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