Leeann Tweeden, the LA radio host who came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) Thursday, said she didn’t share her story to lead Franken to resign from Congress.
“That’s not my call. I didn’t do this to have him step down. I think Al Franken does a lot of good things in the Senate, you know, I think that’s for the people of Minnesota to decide,” Tweeden said on Good Morning America Friday. “I’m not calling for him to step down, that was never my intention. … I just wanted him to understand what he did was wrong.”
Tweeden went public with her story of alleged sexual misconduct on Thursday, claiming Franken “aggressively” kissed her while they were rehearsing for an USO tour in 2006 and allegedly groped her while she was sleeping. Franken initially apologized and disputed parts of her claims, but put out a statement later Thursday asking for Congress to conduct an ethics probe into the allegations against him. The alleged incidents occurred before Franken held public office.
Tweeden said Thursday she accepted Franken’s apology and thanked him for his sincere reaction. On Friday she said she came forward because she wanted to contribute to changing the culture that looks at sexual harassment and assault as a joke.
“How he treated me and how abusers, who, I think, do that under the guise that it’s funny or that ‘I can get away with it because I’m a comedian’ and ‘it was funny,’” she said. “It’s never funny, but when you shine a light and go ‘that’s the culture, that the change that we need to make’ and go ‘that’s never funny,’ but people have gotten away with that forever.”
"I'm not calling for him to step down." – Leeann Tweeden says she just wants Sen. Franken to 'understand what he did was wrong' pic.twitter.com/iTt0XjYcdj
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 17, 2017
and your fate after the payoff?
Inquiring minds want to know.
What promises and payments were made
Was it you who scooped Roger Stone or was it a well orchestrated setup?
Just askin’
wow, that’s a pretty crappy assumption. Watershed moment in US cultural history, but she’s a partisan cretin?
I can’t really disagree with her. Presuming nobody else comes forward and this turns out to have been a one-time thing, I hope Franken runs in 2020 (because he has been a competent and effective Senator) and welcomes a serious primary challenge (because his pre-Senate conduct was beneath the office). How Minnesotans decide, well, that is and should be up to them.
So what do you want her to say?
Or is this going to be another thread of slut-shaming and blaming the victim for not meeting some puritan standard of virtuousness? Are we going to see people post more semi-naked pictures of her?
Senator Franken did and said the right things. Maybe Tweeden is trying to do the same.
As the dust settles, I think one of Tweeden’s allegations seems to be a little lacking in credibility. The photo referenced shows Franken doing a frat boy level gag. It doesn’t show him touching her as she claimed. There were witnesses there, and if they say under oath what has been reported (that it was a gag and she was in on it), it would definitely change things.
The other allegation, that Franken wanted to rehearse their kissing scene and went too far with it is more credible.
Also, the timing of Roger Stone’s tweet, Trump’s tweets and RU bot activity tell me that the GOP intended to time the release of this info for max political gain.
Franken and the Dems have taken the right approach - take the matter seriously, don’t attack the accuser and go through the ethics process. It aligns to where the American people are on these issues - they want accusers heard and accused folks to face the music in a fair process. No point attacking Tweeden. The gaps in her story will be revealed in an investigation away from a political back and forth.