Another woman says Franken tried to forcibly kiss her

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

A former Democratic congressional aide said Al Franken tried to forcibly kiss her after a taping of his radio show in 2006, three years before he became a U.S. senator.

The aide, whose name POLITICO is withholding to protect her identity, said Franken (D-Minn.) pursued her after her boss had left the studio. She said she was gathering her belongings to follow her boss out of the room. When she turned around, Franken was in her face.

The former staffer ducked to avoid Franken’s lips. As she hastily left the room, she said, Franken told her: “It’s my right as an entertainer.”

“He was between me and the door and he was coming at me to kiss me. It was very quick and I think my brain had to work really hard to be like ‘Wait, what is happening?’ But I knew whatever was happening was not right and I ducked,” the aide said in an interview. “I was really startled by it and I just sort of booked it towards the door and he said, ‘It’s my right as an entertainer.’”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/al-franken-accusation-sexual-harassment-2006-281049

[heaven05]

1. just keep it up

your goal might be met...sadly.....nothing can be gained by spreading this bullshit. Did she get paid to lie in this age of liars all the way up to that POS trump? Is she a repthugliKKKan...you are not right....to print this without proof....

[brooklynite]

5. Last I checked, this is the news section of DU...

...and Politico is a responsible source of news.

If you have evidence that they're lying in saying the source is a Democratic Congressional aid, feel free to provide it.

nb - if you think I have it out for Senator Franken, consider that I'm probably the only one here who's had a private lunch with him (through DSCC) to talk politics. I have great respect for him as a Senator, and up to now, I didn't think he should resign over the former accusations (which does NOT mean I bought in to the ridiculous "it's all a setup"/"the pictures have been photoshopped" conspiracy theories). How he responds to this will determine what I think about his future.

[brush]

38. The purpose of these drip-drip-drip allegations seem two-fold.

One, to keep this in the news and pressure Franken to resign; and two, to keep this scandal going as a false equivalency of sorts toward Moore, the pedophile.

Once that Moore election is over I'm betting these anonymous accusers will suddenly stop coming forward.

Does anyone actually believe that Franken said: "It's my right as an entertainer"?.

[brooklynite]

49. Since I dont hide my identify, feel free to check my FEC record of contributions...

..including to Al Frankenstein.

[Cattledog]

2. Anonymous? Tried? How does she know intent? Could have been a hug.

[PatSeg]

3. "It's my right as an entertainer"???

That just does not ring true. Sounds too much like a parody of Trump, "When you're a star they let you do it."

[dchill]

8. +1000

[dalton99a]

10. Yep.

[Paladin]

25. Agreed. Doesn't sound authentic.

But I'm increasingly worried about losing Franken---while shitheads like Roy Moore and other republicans prosper.

[PatSeg]

68. Me too

This whole things has a Lee Atwater stench about it. The man is gone, but his nasty dirty tricks are still with us today.

[pandr32]

51. +1000000

[nini]

53. That's exactly what jumped out at me

I call BS on this. I can't let go of the fact this just all seems so organized etc..

[PatSeg]

69. And three of the complaints

are conveniently anonymous. Franken does not deserve this and we need people like him in public office.

[IronLionZion]

4. WTF!

[Zoonart]

6. Sorry, but I am suspicious of this...

and I say this as a feminist...it just doesn't smell right coming this week before the Moore election.
I think this is about scalp hunting and securing their Senate majority by any means possible.

Also... are we going to bounce every person out of his or her job for initiating a sexual advance? When did a "pass" become sexual assault?
Did no one here live through the 70's? SO will everyone who puts a move on another person liable for destruction of their career? This is NOT excusing the real predators, but it seems to me that she is NOT accusing Al of shoving her up against the wall and assaulting her..unlike 45. SOunds like a clumsy pass, if it happened at all.

The right is weaponizing our outrage and setting up a false equivalence that will end up leveling the playing field for them. If everyone is guilty then no one is guilty.

Just my opinion...let the flaming begin.

[notdarkyet]

12. I agree. Tried to kiss? No name? Not even a real accusation? Stop it!

[Botany]

7. "Its my right as an entertainer."

Why do I smell

[dalton99a]

13. Completely out of character for Franken

[happy feet]

16. +1 Agree

[Kimchijeon]

20. You took the words right outta my mouth! Total BS!

Keep it up fuckers, we are onto your bullshit. They are doubling down on trying to use the emotional public trend to trust all of the recent accusations "so and so did something to me and hurt my fee-fees 15 years ago" to get rid of as many outspoken lefties they can. The bullshit with Franken is just the most glaringly fake-ass one I can see right now.

I love you Al, don't fall for it. We're not that weak-assed. We know better. This is complete and utter baloney.

[Justice]

9. If this is true, Franken is not the man we thought it was - but allegations all seem off to me.

Ethics investigation is proceeding and should play out. Meanwhile let's see Rep. Blake Farenthold resign.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. Just STFU with this chit

[Demit]

14. Withholding her name to protect her from what?

From having to own up to making an accusation?

[DesertRat]

22. One reason that accusers withhold their names

Is because when they come forward they are vilified on social media, called liars, threatened and harassed.

I don't have an opinion about this allegation, but this is what happened to the woman who accused Rep. Blake Farenthold of harassment:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029930205

[hlthe2b]

29. what has happend to Farenthold's accuser MUST be addressed. It is criminal. BUT.. there are already

identified accusers against Franken being investigated and so far NONE of them work for him or are in any way subject to backlash from him. This accuser has a vague story and combined with a refusal to go on the record SHOULD make us quite skeptical.

Having just found out that my full name (common last name, UNCOMMON first name) has been used 9 times to attribute fake anti-net neutrality complaints to FCC, based on the NY attorney general's database, I think I am right to demand serious accusations be verified and not anonymous. I think that applies to all of us in this climate.


There need to be protections for those coming forward and that includes serious crackdown against cyberstalking, cyberabuse, cyberdoxing and cyberharrassment. The answer to that is not to accept every anonymous accusation that comes to light in this hyper political hyper partisan climate.

[DesertRat]

30. Re: anonymous

While agree with this statement

"The answer to that is not to accept every anonymous accusation that comes to light in this hyper political hyper partisan climate."

,
The answer is not to dismiss every anonymous accusation either. The ethics investigation is proceeding, we'll see how this plays out.

[hlthe2b]

34. I never said that anonymous complaints should be totally ignored. They need to be validated and

that requires an independent investigation PRIOR to printing and disseminating their anonymous accusations, which is why there is an ethics investigation underway.

I will NOT allow you to attribute your words to me nor am I going to be quiet as there appears to be a coordinated RW lynching underway toward Franken to push him out BEFORE the facts have been examined by the Ethics committee- while turning a blind eye toward Trump, the pedophile Moore and defending Farenthold's remaining in his seat. The RW and their trolls KNOW that Dems hold their own accountable and WANT to SHOW that they hold their own accountable, which is why they can use/manipulate our own to assist in their aims, however prematurely.

[Bengus81]

39. +1000

Someone wants to make accusations like this then their NAME should damn well be part of the record. This smells WORSE than the last two IMO.

"It's my right as an entertainer"


Total horse shit!!

[hlthe2b]

15. It is simply WRONG to disseminate ANONYMOUS accusations And DUers are aiding, it seems.

WHY?????????


THose who go ON THE RECORD SHOULD be listened to, believed unless there is compelling reason not to, but ANONYMOUS? SMELLS OF CONCERTED HITJOB. Let the ethics investigation proceed. But stop disseminating anonymous accusations.

[still_one]

18. Perfectly stated. Thanks

[brooklynite]

19. I'm disseminating news...

...if you'd like to be hidden from unpleasant news stories, feel free to not read them. If Politico has the story, the Washington Post and Minneapolis Star-Tribune will as well (Chris Cilliza is already tweeting about this). Franken's response, and his future status in response to this story will be a matter of discussion in Washington and Minnesota; hiding from the story here won't change that.

[hlthe2b]

21. You are threatening to have my posts hidden? Nice, brooklynite. Nice

The majority here are questioning the appropriateness of posting anonymous accusations. Perhaps you need to rethink. THAT IS NOT NEWS.

[brooklynite]

24. Where did I say that? I said if you don't like unpleasant news stories, don't read them.

[hlthe2b]

42. I don't like anonymous unvalidated accusations in the era of James O'Keefe, Bannon and other trolls

I don't trust them and I surely don't think we should be (however inadvertently) helping disseminate them.

Questioning and commenting on them, fine. But I haven't seen you question these reports--only defending them as "news". Perhaps I missed this from you?

[DesertRat]

27. I have a knot in my stomach after reading this report

But you're right, this is a news forum and unfortunately this is news. I'm disappointed to see members attacking you for posting the story.

[Demit]

43. Perfect example of "Cokie's law."

—which refers to an infamous comment by Cokie Roberts that shows how the media excuses gossip and scandalmongering. Digby wrote about it for Salon:

'In discussing whether or not Hillary Clinton had actually blamed her husband's childhood for his philandering, Roberts said: "At this point it doesn't much matter whether she said it or not because it's become part of the culture. I was at the beauty parlor yesterday and this was all anyone was talking about."

Cokie's Law is the axiom that says the press can pass judgement about anything once it's "out there" regardless of whether or not what's "out there" is true. This allows them to skip doing boring rebuttals of the facts at hand and instead hold forth at length about how it bears on the subject's "judgement" and the "appearance" of wrongdoing without ever proving that what they did was wrong....'

https://www.salon.com/2015/08/24/anatomy_of_a_hillary_clinton_pseudo_scandal_how_republicans_and_their_media_lackeys_are_trying_to_manufacture_her_downfall/

[knoxy]

72. Disappointed.

I find the responses in this thread disappointing on many levels. I love Al Franken. I've loved him since I was a child. But 7 women have now come out complaining he was inappropriate with them. 7. At what point do we listen without conspiracy theories? If members of the right were doing this, we'd be appalled.

[still_one]

17. Name withheld and political, two reasons to be skeptical of this story

[Farmer-Rick]

23. Witholding her name .......

All those other women came out with their full identities. But this former comedian is sooooo intimidating all these women are anonymous.

I bet she is another RepubliCON. Seems Al only goes after scardy cats and RepubliCONS. Very Strange

[brooklynite]

26. So, you're saying Politico is lying when they say the source is a Democratic Congressional aide?

[Cattledog]

28. Story says "former". Who knows what she is now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. The source claims to be a former Dem congressional aide.

Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't.

[Bengus81]

40. FORMER is what I'm reading.........

[brush]

45. Does that "It's my right as an entertainer" quote ring true to you?

That sure sounds like a lie. Maybe the whole story is as well but keep your posting fingers warm as there'll be another anonymous accuser coming forward before the Moore election.

Gotta keep those false equivalences out there in the public eye to make Moore, trump and Farenthold not seem so disgusting.

[hatrack]

31. Anonymous? Right - tell it to Roy Moore's victims . . .

.

[stonecutter357]

32. #fakenews.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. Why are Franken's accusers the only anonymous ones?

How do we even know this is a "former Democratic congressional aide"? They could be damn near anybody, even somebody working for that slimeball James O'Keefe. This report sounds especially dodgy.

[hlthe2b]

36. INDEED

[Yavin4]

37. If Conyers' and Moore's accusers can come forward, why not Franken's

I get that some accusers don't want to come forward, but aside from Leeann Tweeden, all of his accusers have been anonymous. Why is that? This is giving me pause about these accusations. We have women violating NDA agreements, taking Trump to court, taking on Fox News, but these women are too intimidated by Franken?

[rocktivity]

41. Consider the source...

rocktivity

[chowder66]

44. How does she know if he wasn't just going to give her a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye parting?

What if he did say "it's my right as an entertainer" in jest to give a lady a parting kiss on the cheek? That is if it happened at all.

Regardless, if he was going in for a kiss she "ducked" and "left". Nothing ended up happening.

But then she goes on and says she started telling people after Trump's access hollywood tape and that she doesn't like his responses
to the other women. It definitely smells.

This paragraph really makes me think there is a political agenda at work here; ...particularly shaken? That's a bit overwrought.

"The former staffer says she was particularly shaken after seeing Franken on TV responding to the Trump tape last year. Franken dismissed Trump’s excuse that he was just engaging in “locker room talk” and joked that maybe Trump worked out with Roger Ailes, the now deceased Fox News chairman who was forced to resign in 2016 amid allegations he sexually harassed several Fox employees."



I've had people try to kiss me when it was unwanted. I have never even considered in the same vain as assault. Those incidences really just become funny stories. It never caused any emotional or physical harm. Were some weird? Sure but they are anecdotes if anything and nothing compared to real life altering assault.

[no_hypocrisy]

46. Co-host Catherine Lanpher should be able to

Last edited Wed Dec 6, 2017, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

clear this up -- after "Anonymous" comes forward.

[IronLionZion]

48. Yeah, I'm going to report some women who tried to forcibly kiss me

on the cheek. Anonymously of course. Starting with my own grandmother.

Shit like this makes me go cross eyed.

I'm trying not to doubt accusers simply because we like Franken but come on.

[kimbutgar]

50. These stories go away when the pedophile Moore is elected in Alabama

I remember 2014 Ebola Ebola Ebola and the day after the rethug stake the senate you never hear the word Ebola again.

That said I am not equating the seriousness of sexual harassment with embola but with the rehung distraction technique they are so good at. They got their scalp In Conyers yesterday now they want to take out an effective Senator that will cause the rethugs trouble in 2018 is a wave election like 2006. And the Democrats crush the rethigs. I feel the momentum coming.

[Freethinker65]

54. Yep. I remember the Ebola hype and its disappearance around election time

They will not drop the Franken story though. It is really all they (the GOP) have right now to occupy the media. The Time magazine person of the year will just keep it going. Sex sells. Downfalls of famous people sells. People watch, ratings go up.

If Trump manages to start a war before Christmas, the Franken story will get bumped.

[Bluepinky]

52. Fox has also picked up this story and is running with it.

So now my sister, who has become brainwashed from watching Fox and listening to talk radio, has more anti-Franken material.

Meanwhile, Trump hasn’t admitted to anything, so he’s innocent. Franken has admitted guilt in the past, and there’s the photo, so he’s guilty of anything they throw at him.

The Access Hollywood tape proves nothing to a foxhead, it’s just “locker room talk”.

Someone needs to bring lawsuits against Fox News and hold them accountable for what they say. I don’t know how else to stop the propaganda machine.

[brooklynite]

55. BREAKING: Sens. Harris, Murray, Hirono, Hassan, McCaskill, Gillibrand call on Franken to resign

(all women)

Sorry if some find the news discouraging.

[Bayard]

65. Sorry, but this makes me lose some respect for these women

Again, these are anonymous, unsubstantiated claims against Franken. Grossly different than what's been going on with Conyers. Now tRump will come out and say--See, even his own party accuses him!

I think these ladies should come out in support of Franken, unless they have some solid proof of wrong-doing (like admitting it on Access Hollywood). We need a united front, not let the right divide and conquer.

[brooklynite]

66. Update: Add Stabenow, Casey, Donnelly, Baldwin, Nelson, Heitkamp, Cantwell, Bennett, Markey, Durbin

[Farmer-Rick]

73. Are they calling for Trump to resign too?

No Dem should resign until Trmp resigns. What's good for the goose is good enough for Trump.

[Bayard]

56. I'm sick to death of this crap

Another one that has Bannon's stinky fingers all over it. Franken is one of the smartest, most conscientious and vocal critics in Congress. This attack is meant to silence him/remove him, and be able to say---see! Now you have to accept Roy Moore!

Its not like any of his "victims" has a signed yearbook, or other credible evidence. Does anyone think Al would say something as stupid as, "Its my right as an entertainer?"

[brooklynite]

58. Are you saying that six US Senator are too dense to see Steve Bannon plot?

I'm guessing they give credence to the accusation, and/or see the political damage.

[Calista241]

57. Hes done.

It’s sad because he was a true progressive, perhaps one of the top 5 progressives in government, but i don’t think he can survive this constant drip drip drip.

[quickesst]

59. Funny thing...

Every Franken accuser to the left of the political spectrum wishes to remain anonymous. Roy Moore's Republican accusers stepped up to the plate.

[mopinko]

60. all these anonymous complaints

make my bullshit detector go off like a fire alarm.

[Bayard]

64. Exactly

And I can't believe any Dem's in Congress--or here--are falling for it. I am all for women coming forward as credible victims on the record. But anonymous complaints are not credible no matter which side of the aisle you're on. Did they tell anyone else or make a complaint at the time this supposedly happened? Roy Moore was totally blatant and renowned for his pedophilia, to the point of being ordered to stay away from the local mall.

There is such a thing as being too politically correct.....

Flame away.

[brooklynite]

61. BREAKING: DNC Chair Perez call on Franken to step down...

Link to tweet

Now 10 Senators calling for resignation. Whatever your opinion on the accusation, the game is over.

[Butterflylady]

62. Stone doesn't give does he?

We weren't fooled by the other four, so they keep on bringing more out little by little as a message to Franken to leave the poor little elf ( Sessions) alone.

This has Stone written all over it, and why wait so long to come forward if this actually happened.

Wait a week or two and he'll trot out another one.

[Muneravenmn]

63. I Wonder Why People Think Franken Innocent

Guys groping women happens across the political spectrum. Brilliant guys, guys who are “feminists,” funny guys, guys who you thought were awesome can all do this stuff.

I like Al Franken a lot, but I can believe he did harass women. I am not inclined to disbelieve any woman who comes forward just because I voted for Franken and have been a fan. I have seen a LOT of men do things like this over my life. I find it terribly sad to say that, but there it is.

I wish this was a right-wing plot. But I doubt that it is. Some of the women have identified themselves, and many spoke about the incidents to friends and family when it happened. A few women don’t want to be identified, but that doesn’t make all the women liars.

It’s a shame. I hate to lose such an articulate voice for progressive causes. But Franken screwed up.

[Egnever]

67. Maybe because all of the charges are bullshit

He tried to kiss me? But I avoided it?

Are you fucking kidding me?

If you avoided it how do you know he was trying to kiss you and not say give you a peck on the cheek?

Or that he was trying to kiss you at all.

This is bullshit once again and useful idiots are just going to run with it cause metoo


Fuck that.

[DeminPennswoods]

70. Then there's this from the story

The former congressional aide, a longtime Democrat, said she is not attempting to force Franken out of office by coming forward now. Her aim is to encourage the former comedian to acknowledge that his behavior towards her and other women was intentional.

“His resignation is not the top of the list there. That’s not my point. It’s not up to me what he does,” the former staffer said.

Then why didn't she arrange a meeting with Franken if that was her aim?

[hexola]

71. So the "Boss" is a Congressperson who was on Franken's show in 2006

This should be easy to narrow it down to who this person is.

Sorry - too many clues for you to remain anonymous!