Stephanie Kemplin says Franken groped her and another woman describes incident on radio show, as ethics committee says investigation has begun

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Two more women have come forward to accuse the Democratic senator Al Franken of sexual impropriety, according to reports on Thursday.

Stephanie Kemplin, an Ohio army veteran, told CNN that Franken groped her breast in 2003, while she was deployed in Kuwait and he was a comedian on a tour of the Middle East to entertain US troops.

Separately, a former elected official in New England, who requested anonymity, told the website Jezebel that Franken attempted to kiss her onstage at an event in 2006.

Later on Thursday, the Senate ethics committee said it had started an investigation into the allegations against Franken.

“While the committee does not generally comment on pending matters or matters that may come before it, in this instance, the Committee is publicly confirming that it has opened a preliminary inquiry into Senator Franken’s alleged misconduct,” a statement from the committee members said.

The Minnesota senator faces at least six accusations of sexual misconduct and a growing chorus of lawmakers have said he should resign.

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“When he put his arm around me, he groped my right breast. He kept his hand all the way over on my breast,” Kemplin told CNN. “I’ve never had a man put their arm around me and then cup my breast. So he was holding my breast on the side.”

Kemplin, who was 27 at the time, said she had been a longtime fan of Saturday Night Live and was excited to meet Franken, a former cast member. When she first felt him touch her breast Kemplin thought it was an accident, but then “he never moved his hand”, she said, adding that the incident left her feeling “embarrassed”.

Kemplin is the second person to allege that the inappropriate behavior took place while Franken was in Kuwait to entertain the troops stationed there.



Meanwhile, a woman told Jezebel that she was working as the chair of her town’s select board when she agreed to appear as a guest in a live taping of Air America, a progressive radio show Franken hosted at the time.

After the interview, the woman told Jezebel that when she reached out to shake his hand, “he took it and leaned toward me with his mouth open”.

“I turned my head away from him and he landed a wet, open-mouthed kiss awkwardly on my cheek,” she said, adding that she was “stunned and incredulous”.

The woman said she asked for anonymity because she wanted her name “associated with my own accomplishments and not publicly linked to a man’s bad behavior”.

A spokesman for Franken’s office said in a statement: “As Sen Franken made clear this week, he takes thousands of photos and has met tens of thousands of people and he has never intentionally engaged in this kind of conduct. He remains fully committed to cooperating with the ethics investigation.”



The Guardian has contacted Franken’s office for comment.

Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles-based news anchor, came forward with the original allegations in an op-ed published by KABC radio on Thursday that detailed an encounter with Franken during a tour of the Middle East to entertain US troops in 2006.



Tweeden alleges that Franken, then a comedian and formerly of Saturday Night Live, forcibly kissed her while rehearsing for a skit and later groped her while she was asleep. She also shared a photo that appears to show Franken placing his hands over her breasts while posing for the camera.

Earlier this week Franken said he was “tremendously sorry” for his behavior and vowed to never repeat the actions that led multiple women to accuse him of sexual misconduct.

“I know there are no magic words I can say to regain your trust and I know that is going to take time,” Franken told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday.

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“I know I’m going to have to be much more conscious in these circumstances, much more careful, much more sensitive, and that this will not happen again going forward,” he added.

Franken, who was elected to the Senate in 2008, has said that he recalled some of the events differently. Franken also disputed Tweeden’s account that he kissed Tweeden without consent, but apologized on Monday, saying: “I feel you have to respect the women’s experience.”

Franken has said he could not rule out the possibility that more women might come forward, insisting that he has posed for thousands of photos over his career.

Asked during the press conference what the bar for resignation should be for a sitting member of Congress, Franken declined to say.



“I am not going to get into that or speculate,” he said. “I am trying to take responsibility by apologizing.”