2 more women accuse Al Franken of touching them inappropriately: Report
Two more women have accused Sen. Al Franken of touching them inappropriately, according to a Wednesday evening report in HuffPost.
The accusations come after Franken has already been accused by one woman of groping her and forcefully kissing her, and by another of grabbing her buttocks. Members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle have called for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation.
One woman who spoke to HuffPost said Franken groped her when they posed for a picture after a June 25, 2007 event hosted by the Women's Political Caucus in Minneapolis. That woman, a 38-year-old book editor, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear she would be harassed online. The woman said Franken grabbed her buttocks during a photo op. The other woman said Franken cupped her butt with his hand at a 2008 Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis. The second woman spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for her job.
The accusations are similar to those of Lindsay Menz, who claimed Franken grabbed her butt at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010, when he was already in the Senate.
The first woman who spoke with HuffPost said she wanted to share her story because Franken is a "serial groper."
"Only two people have come forward, and people are saying that this is a right-wing conspiracy," she said. "It's not. I'm a liberal person. ... I voted for him after this happened."
Both women shared their story with people they knew soon after the alleged events.
Franken told HuffPost, "It's difficult to respond to anonymous accusers, and I don't remember those campaign events."
Franken isn't the only one on Capitol Hill facing sexual misconduct allegations.
Michigan's Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is under investigation by a House Ethics panel, after three women have accused him of sexual misconduct.