“Embarrassed and ashamed” were the words Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) used in reference to the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him by at least four women. However, Franken doesn’t look like he will be resigning any time soon.
The Democrat senator spoke to The Star Tribune on Sunday, saying he was caught unawares with respect to the allegations.
In response to allegations by Lindsay Menz that Franken groped her buttocks during a 2010 photo shoot, Franken said: “I don’t remember these photographs, I don’t. This is not something I would intentionally do.”
“If you had asked me two weeks ago, ‘Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect?’ I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surprise… I certainly hope not.”
He also said that he had been “thinking about how that could happen and I just recognize that I need to be more careful and a lot more sensitive in these situations.”
The Senator said he would be back to work on Monday, a possible indication that he has no intention of resigning over the allegations.
+++ + +++
