Two more women came forward on Wednesday to accuse Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat representing Minnesota, of groping. With their accusations, which were reported by the Huffington Post, the total number of women who have accused Franken of inappropriate touching comes to four.
Both women who spoke to the Huffington Post were anonymous, but their allegations align with Lindsay Menz and Leeann Tweeden’s accounts. Franken, one of his most recent accusers said, “is a serial groper.”
A 38-year-old book editor, who was living in Minneapolis at the time, told HuffPost that she met Franken at the Women’s Political Caucus event during his first Senate campaign in 2007. She performed with a feminist choir at the event, after she approached Franken for a photo:
“My mother loves Al Franken. She listened to Air America [on which Franken had a radio show] every day,” the first woman said. ”I saw him and asked if we could take a photo together for my mother, and we stood next to each other...and down his hand went.”
Another member of the choir, Sarah, corroborated the story and added that she recalled Franken wouldn’t stop looking at her chest during the performance.
A second woman who spoke to HuffPo said she was also groped by Franken at a Minneapolis fundraiser in 2008. She approached Franken with her friend and introduced themselves:
“I shook his hand, and he put his arm around my waist and held it there,” the second woman said. “Then he moved it lower and cupped my butt.”
Mortified, she attempted to escape the situation by going to the bathroom. Franken, she alleged, asked to join her and her friend in the bathroom. In a statement provided to HuffPo, Franken said he couldn’t address anonymous allegations, but he “categorically” denied propositioning “anyone to join me in any bathroom.”
Following the first allegation last week, Franken agreed to a Senate ethics investigation. However, considering his behavior does appear to be serial, there might be a more appropriate response to all of these allegations.
Al Franken...resign, sir.