Dems call for Sen. Franken to step down amid sexual misconduct allegations

<p>Sen. Al Franken is set to make an announcement Thursday, as a group of fellow Democrats called on him to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Dec 6, 2017, 10:59 PM

Updated 2,342 days ago

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Sen. Al Franken is set to make an announcement Thursday, as a group of fellow Democrats called on him to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was among more than two dozen Democratic members of Congress, women and men, calling for Sen. Franken's resignation after another woman emerged saying he forcibly tried to kiss her in 2006.
She's now the seventh woman accusing the former "Saturday Night Live" star-turned-politician of sexual misconduct. 
It comes just one day after Rep. John Conyers resigned amid similar allegations. 
Rep. Kathleen Rice was the first member of Congress to call for Sen. Franken's resignation two weeks ago. She released a statement saying, "I believe and I hope that we've made real progress on this issue over the past two weeks. We've identified what the standard should be for politicians who violate the public trust by harassing or assaulting women. Now we need to stick to it."
The firestorm began back in October with a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein. A steady stream of similar allegations against a number of famous people has followed.
Sen. Franken has not released any details about his Thursday announcement.


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