Back on Capitol Hill for the first time since facing accusations of sexual misconduct towards women, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) told reporters he has ‘let a lot of people down,’ as he pledged to regain their trust, indicating he has no plans to resign his seat in the U.S. Senate.
“I know that I have let a lot of people down, the people of Minnesota, my colleagues, my staff,” Franken said to a group of reporters waiting outside of his U.S. Senate office, eleven days after being accused of inappropriate behavior by a woman who was on a USO tour with him in late 2006.
“I just want to again say, I am sorry,” Franken said. “I am going to try to learn from my mistakes.”
"I'm going to try to learn from my mistakes," said Sen Franken, and that he's doing a lot of reflecting. "I am embarrassed, I feel ashamed."
— Libby Casey (@libcasey) November 27, 2017
Sen. Al Franken: "I know that I've let a lot of people down... To all of you, I just want to, again, say I am sorry" https://t.co/PXoF1R762T
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 27, 2017
Asked if he agreed with women who accused him of groping them during photographs while he was in the Senate, Franken said he did not, as three women have said he grabbed their butts.
“I am embarrassed, I feel ashamed,” Franken said. “What I’m going to do is start my job – I’m going to go back to work.”
“This has been a shock, and it’s been extremely humbling,” the Minnesota Democrat added.
Franken: "This is what I've been trying to do. I've been trying to take responsibility. I've apologized, and by apologizing to the people I've let down, I'm going to work to regain their trust. I am going to be accountable." https://t.co/jr4e9Q6osm pic.twitter.com/R8COAcbZXr
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 27, 2017
Franken expects to face a review by the Senate Ethics Committee, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said the questions are something which deserves that panel’s examination.
“We are going to cooperate completely with the ethics investigation,” Franken said today.
Franken says he does not remember some of the instances in which women allege he touched them inappropriately as he posed for photos with them.
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) November 27, 2017
Franken only took a handful of questions from reporters; the Minnesota Democrat routinely refuses to talk to reporters in the hallways of the Capitol and Senate office buildings.
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