Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called for investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), Roll Call reports.
Said McConnell: “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.”
Leeann Tweeden writes that she was kissed and groped by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) on a USO Tour in 2006.
He repeated that actors really need to rehearse everything and that we must practice the kiss. I said ‘OK’ so he would stop badgering me. We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.
I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time.
I walked away. All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth.
Franken responds: “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.”
“Political associates of Al Franken say they believe the Minnesota senator could be talked into running for the White House if he believes he’s the Democrat best positioned to defeat President Trump,” The Hill reports.
“But they say Franken would need to be convinced, and argue that the former Saturday Night Live star would be reluctant to enter a battle with dozens of other Democrats in what’s increasingly expected to be a wide-open race for party’s nomination.”
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) joined Chris Riback on the latest episode of Political Wire Conversations. It’s a really fun conversation.
Franken is also author of an excellent new book, Giant of the Senate.
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Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) asked then-FBI Director James Comey to investigate Attorney General Jeff Sessions, “amid concerns that he may have had an additional meeting with the Russian ambassador the United States, Sergey Kislyak,” CNN reports.
Said the letter: “We are concerned about Attorney General Sessions’ lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) “obnoxious and insulting” for devoting an entire chapter to the Texas GOP senator in Franken’s new book titled Giant of the Senate, according to Politico.
Said Cruz: “Al is trying to sell books and apparently he’s decided that being obnoxious and insulting me is good for causing liberals to buy his books. I wish him all the best.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to do that.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), in an interview with People, on running for president in 2020.
Out next week: Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken.
“I like Ted Cruz probably more than my colleagues like Ted Cruz, and I hate Ted Cruz.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), in an interview with USA Today.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) told CNN that he now believes that Attorney General Jeff Sessions committed perjury during his confirmation hearing when he did not disclose meetings with a Russian ambassador.
Said Franken: “It’s hard to come to any other conclusion than he just perjured himself.”
“We don’t know what the Russians have on Donald Trump. And we need — and we need to see, if anything — we need to see his tax returns.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), quoted by ABC News.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) told Bill Maher that his Republican Senate colleagues privately express “great concern” about President Trump’s temperament.
Said Franken: “Well, there’s a range in what they’ll say, and some will say that he’s not right mentally. And some are harsher.”
He added: “No, no. That’s not fair. That was cheap. There are some who I guess don’t talk to me.”
“Donald Trump never laughs… I wanted to see if Trump laughed. And he didn’t. He smiled, but didn’t laugh. I don’t know what it is.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), in an interview with the New York Times.
“I call him the Jewish LBJ.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), quoted by the Washington Post, on Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) “is embarking on a yearlong campaign to help Democrats win it back and ensure that Senate races aren’t a forgotten undercard to the presidential contest. And after years of keeping a low profile on Capitol Hill, he’s actually happy to talk about it,” Politico reports.
“In a rare interview in his Capitol office, the Minnesotan described his most ambitious effort yet to help elect Democrats in his more than six years in Washington. Franken is using his celebrity to help raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates, and Democrats are relying on him to play an outsize role, alongside high-profile senators like Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, to pick up the five seats the party needs to flip the Senate in 2016.”
NBC News looks at the top six Senate races to watch.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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