Sen. Al Franken’s Accuser Holds A Press Conference

An LA-based radio host, Leeann Tweeden, has accused Sen. Al Franken of groping her and kissing her without her explicit consent.

I’ve decided it’s time to tell my story. #MeToohttps://t.co/TqTgfvzkZg

— Leeann Tweeden (@LeeannTweeden) November 16, 2017

More details here.

Franken issued the lamest response ever.

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

He eventually released a second, longer statement.

NEW FRANKEN STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/c3puSkK9Ts

— Sam Stein (@samstein) November 16, 2017

“I’ve told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny, but later came to realize were just plain offensive,” he added. “But the intentions behind my actions aren’t the point at all. It’s the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come to terms with that.”

Franken even called for an ethics investigation of himself.

“I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences,” he said. “I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.”

Ah geez.

Anyway, Tweeden held a press conference and explained why she decided to come out.

"I really do think the tide has turned. Really, I'm doing it now because it's different. There's strength in numbers," Leeann Tweeden says https://t.co/trFWvB71oN pic.twitter.com/yXjjJLoaUg

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 16, 2017

She also said she accepts Franken’s apology but noted that she wasn’t looking for one.

“The apology, sure I accept it, yes. People make mistakes and of course he knew he made a mistake,” Leeann Tweeden said. “So yes I do accept that apology. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t accept his apology.”

You can tell she has a hard time buying it, though. She said she saw him a few years after the incident, and he tried to talk to her. If he really wanted to apologize for his past actions, he would’ve done it then. I think that’s the point she was trying to make.

“He had a chance to apologize to me then, because he knew — he knew exactly what he did to me then and that picture was out there,” she said.

"People make mistakes," Leeann Tweeden says of Sen. Al Franken. "I'm not calling for him to step down." https://t.co/trFWvB71oN pic.twitter.com/x0UJeoG7Kh

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 16, 2017

Here’s a longer clip:

Thoughts on all of this?