Franken apologizes after woman says he groped her Senate leaders in both parties have called for an Ethics Committee investigation of the Minnesota senator.

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.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) immediately called for an ethics investigation, and Franken vowed to cooperate.


Multiple Democratic senators quickly broke with Franken after Leeann Tweeden, a radio anchor for Los Angeles’ KABC, wrote Thursday about the senator's admitted misconduct. Tweeden described harassment by Franken while she and the comedian, then a host on liberal talk radio, 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 after she returned from the overseas trip 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.

McConnell (R-Ky.) immediately called for the ethics committee to investigate, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Franken himself echoed the need for such a probe.

Some of Franken's fellow Democrats readily shared their dismay at his actions as Tweeden's story swept through the Capitol. A growing awareness of sexual harassment's prevalence is propelling a push to overhaul Capitol Hill's system for handling workplace misconduct complaints.

"I have every reason to believe Ms. Tweeden's account," Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) told reporters. "I think that women should be able to feel safe and free in their workplace, and if there are such allegations they should come forward."

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called Franken's behavior "unacceptable," adding that he believes Tweeden.

"Sexual harassment and groping are never okay," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters. "Sen. Franken will have to address the allegations in the article."

The Franken allegations come as McConnell and GOP leaders continue to isolate Roy Moore amid multiple alleged cases of sexual harassment or misconduct by the Alabama Senate nominee. While many GOP senators initially qualified their condemnation of Moore's behavior, suggesting they had yet to fully evaluate the assault charges against the Alabama Republican, the Democrats who spoke out against Franken's actions on Thursday pointedly aligned with Tweeden's story.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who is seeking GOP support for legislation that would broadly reform Capitol Hill's sexual harassment policy, said that she believes Tweeden's "deeply concerning" story.

"I feel very strongly that Roy Moore should not be a senator and I feel strongly that, if he is elected, that the Senate should have its own response to it," Gillibrand told reporters. "I expect to hear more from Sen. Franken on this issue."

Other Democrats declined to answer questions about Franken on Thursday or held off making a statement. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a frequent liberal ally of Franken, avoided questions from reporters, while Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said that he is "waiting to hear from Al."

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), vice chairman of the ethics committee, cited policy against weighing in on a matter before the panel, as did fellow committee members Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

In his call for an ethics committee probe of Franken, McConnell said that "all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault" should be investigated by the panel. "Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable — in the workplace or anywhere else," the Kentucky Republican said.

In his second statement of the day responding to Tweeden, Franken said he is among the powerful men who "have been forced to take a good, hard look at our own actions" after the recent flood of sexual harassment and assault allegations hitting Hollywood, the media, and politics.

"While I don't remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women's experiences," Franken said.

"This should not have happened to Leeann Tweeden," said Franken's fellow Minnesota Democratic senator, Amy Klobuchar.

Klobuchar, who is leading bipartisan talks on an overhaul of Congress' sexual harassment policy through her position as top Democrat on the Rules Committee, added in a statement that Franken's behavior is "another example of why we need to change work environments and reporting practices across the nation, including in Congress.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) described herself as "very sad" about Tweeden's story and added that she would join fellow Rules panel members to "do everything we can" to make the Congress' harassment complaint system easier for victims to navigate.

Tweeden's story also prompted Democrats in vulnerable reelection races next year to immediately distance themselves from Franken. The Minnesotan canceled his scheduled appearance at a weekend fundraiser for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who issued a statement declaring that "sexual harassment is never acceptable."

Democratic challengers in House races who received donations from Franken have “already [donated] the money to a variety of local charities,” said Meredith Kelly, a Democatic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman.

Abby Finkenauer, a Democratic challenger in Iowa who received a donation from Franken, said that “Democrats need to hold ourselves to the same standards we would demand of Republicans.”

“Sexual assault is not a partisan problem,” said Finkenauer, who donated the money to a nonprofit that supports sexual assault victims.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who earlier this week shared her own story of sexual harassment while working as a intern in the 1970s, said she would donate money received from Franken's leadership PAC to charity. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who tweeted that "Senator Franken's conduct was inappropriate and unacceptable," also donated a leadership PAC contribution from Franken to charity, as did Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

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

In a later press conference in Los Angeles, Tweeden said her experience with Franken reminded her of a recording of disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein trying to cajole a woman to keep talking with him after acknowledging that he groped her.

Franken "just kept persisting," Tweeden said. "I was just like, okay, fine — just so he would shut up, you know?"

Cristiano Lima, Marc Caputo, Louis Nelson, Kevin Robillard, and Elena Schneider contributed to this report.