"As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it," Sen. Al Franken said. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Franken apologizes after woman says he groped her Mitch McConnell is calling for an Ethics Committee investigation of the Minnesota senator.

UPDATE 11:40 a.m.:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for an Ethics Committee investigation of Sen. Al Franken after allegations that he groped a woman in 2006.

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"As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter. I hope the Democratic Leader will join me on this," he said. "Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable—in the workplace or anywhere else."

ORIGINAL:

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) apologized Thursday after a female broadcaster said the lawmaker groped and kissed her without her consent during a 2006 trip overseas.

Leeann Tweeden, a radio anchor for Los Angeles’ KABC, wrote Thursday that Franken's misconduct took place while they toured the Middle East to entertain military personnel in 2006.

According to Tweeden, Franken crafted a performance skit during the trip to make the anchor kiss him against her will. “I felt disgusted and violated,” she said of the incident. “I tried to let it go, but I was angry.”

Tweeden wrote that it wasn’t until she returned from the overseas trip that she discovered a picture of the senator groping her as she slept.

Tweeden’s allegations were published Thursday on the radio station’s website accompanied by a picture depicting Franken grabbing the anchor’s breast while she slept aboard a C-17 cargo plane as they departed from Afghanistan.

In a statement, Franken said, "I certainly don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."

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Before Franken's statement on the accusations came out, fellow Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar told reporters Thursday, “I have just read them and I’m sure he will have a comment and will wait for that.”

“I’ve decided it’s time to tell my story. #MeToo,” Tweeden wrote Thursday on social media, referencing the feminist social movement that has led to dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct against powerful men across industries and politics to be unearthed.

Cristiano Lima and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.