{"id":54065,"date":"2017-12-08T05:57:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T05:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=54065"},"modified":"2017-12-08T05:57:17","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T05:57:17","slug":"al-franken-to-resign-from-senate-amid-harassment-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/al-franken-to-resign-from-senate-amid-harassment-allegations.html","title":{"rendered":"Al Franken to Resign From Senate Amid Harassment Allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Al Franken to Resign From Senate Amid Harassment Allegations<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Al Franken to Resign From Senate Amid Harassment Allegations:- Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, in an emotional speech on the Senate floor, announced on Thursday that he would resign from Congress, the most prominent figure in a growing list of lawmakers felled by charges of sexual harassment or indiscretions.<\/span><\/p>\n

At turns defiant and mournful but hardly contrite, Mr. Franken called it \u201cthe worst day of my political life,\u201d as he denied allegations of groping and improper advances from at least six women. Instead, as his Democratic colleagues looked on, he took a parting shot at President Trump and Roy S. Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama; both have also been accused of sexual misconduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party,\u201d Mr. Franken said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hours later, Representative Trent Franks, Republican of Arizona, resigned after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment \u2014 a move that made him the third member of Congress to leave under a cloud of claims of sexual impropriety in three days. On Tuesday, Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan and the longest-serving African-American in House history, also quit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dizzying series of departures comes during a national reckoning over sexual misconduct in the workplace that has cost men their jobs across the spectrum of American life, including in the entertainment and media industries, the arts, academia and now, politics. As accusations of sexual improprieties continue to swirl on Capitol Hill, lawmakers have struggled with how to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats and their leaders forced Mr. Conyers and Mr. Franken out in a succession of seemingly coordinated statements that made clear that their continued presence would be untenable. Mr. Franken stepped down one day after nearly all the Senate\u2019s Democratic women \u2014 and most Democratic men, including the top two leaders \u2014 called for him to resign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats appear determined to grab the moral high ground in an environment in which they hope sexual harassment becomes a wedge issue in the 2018 midterm elections \u2014 even if it costs them popular colleagues and political icons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Republicans, by contrast, have been more situational. In the case of Mr. Franks, Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin released a statement Thursday night indicating that he had forced the representative out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe speaker takes seriously his obligation to ensure a safe workplace in the House,\u201d a statement from Mr. Ryan\u2019s office said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas appears to be under little pressure, even though he used $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment claim with his former communications director. The House Ethics Committee said on Thursday that it was establishing a subcommittee to investigate Mr. Farenthold.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Moore\u2019s Senate candidacy in Alabama has surfaced accusations that he sexually molested or assaulted girls as young as 14, yet he continues to have the support of Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee. And allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Mr. Trump have hardly shaken his control over the party.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democrats are making a smart political calculation,\u201d said Peter Wehner, who advised former President George W. Bush on domestic policy. \u201cI think they probably saw the political opportunity, and they couldn\u2019t take advantage of it unless they jettisoned their own problematic figures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Wehner continued: \u201cAfter years of making the argument that character mattered in terms of sexual ethics, now Republicans are saying it doesn\u2019t matter at all. They\u2019re utterly indifferent to it, and Republicans and evangelical Christians have nothing to do with this particular moral moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Democrats also face risks in setting themselves up as the party of purity. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus are angry over the treatment of Mr. Conyers, who served in the House since 1965. Some progressive Democrats, who form Mr. Franken\u2019s base, view the treatment of him as an overreaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment he was targeted they decided to eat their own, and we do this to ourselves all the time,\u201d said Natalie Volin Lehr, a former aide to Mr. Franken who oversaw women\u2019s outreach for him. \u201cI think there\u2019s a sense of hyper political correctness and that we\u2019re holier than thou.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Franken\u2019s announcement on Thursday was a jarring end to an improbable political career in which the senator, a founding writer and performer on \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d narrowly won a seat in 2008 and offered Democrats a crucial vote needed to advance the Obama administration\u2019s agenda, including the Affordable Care Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Franken cut a serious figure in the Senate, where he sought to stifle his sense of humor as he dived into meaty policy issues like electronic privacy and telecommunications mergers. Some viewed him as a potential contender for the presidency in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

The accusations against him began last month when Leeann Tweeden, a radio news anchor in California, accused Mr. Franken of forcibly kissing and groping her on a U.S.O. tour in 2006. Several women also said Mr. Franken groped them as he posed with them for photographs, mostly before he became a senator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last three weeks, Mr. Franken has repeatedly apologized for his behavior, although he has also challenged some of the accusations of impropriety. Until Wednesday, he had said he would remain in his job, but his Democratic colleagues in the Senate made clear this week that his apologies and admissions were not sufficient.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said that Mr. Franken\u2019s resignation crossed \u201ca cultural Rubicon\u201d and set a new standard by which future senators would be judged.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s clear that behavior of this kind before you take office is something that the body should take seriously \u2014 and it should be evenhanded whether you are a Democrat or a Republican,\u2019\u2019 Mr. Kaine said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate was somber as Mr. Franken delivered his speech on Thursday. His staff and family, including his wife, Franni Bryson, watched from the gallery above. About 20 Democrats and, apart from Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, who was presiding, just one Republican \u2014 Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, an ardent critic of Mr. Trump \u2014 arrived in the chamber to hear his remarks.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Mr. Franken was through, many of the same lawmakers who had called on him to resign lined up, one by one, to hug him. Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, wiped away tears.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his speech, Mr. Franken, who counted himself an ardent defender of women\u2019s rights, called the national reckoning \u201can important moment\u201d that was \u201clong overdue,\u201d adding, \u201cWe were finally beginning to listen to women about the ways in which men\u2019s actions affect them.\u201d He said he was \u201cexcited for that conversation\u201d and hoped to be a part of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen,\u201d he said, \u201cthe conversation turned to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Franken said he decided to leave office because it became clear that he could not both pursue an Ethics Committee investigation and represent the people of Minnesota. He maintained that he would have ultimately been cleared.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the allegations against me are simply not true,\u201d Mr. Franken said. \u201cOthers I remember very differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know in my heart, nothing that I have done as a senator, nothing, has brought dishonor on this institution,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Franken did not specify precisely when he would leave the Senate, saying only that he would do so \u201cin the coming weeks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It will be up to the Democratic governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, to choose a successor for Mr. Franken who will serve until November 2018. Mr. Dayton is expected to choose from among several prominent Democratic women, including Lt. Gov. Tina Smith and Attorney General Lori Swanson. The governor said on Thursday that he was still weighing his decision, but his choice was certain to upend the state\u2019s politics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over time, though, Mr. Franken\u2019s resignation could become a headache for Democrats as the former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, is being heavily recruited to enter the special election race next year for the Senate seat by colleagues in the state and in Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Senate, Mr. Franken\u2019s influence was more political than legislative. He was popular on the party\u2019s fund-raising circuit and among his colleagues, but he sought to show he could do more than tell jokes. Since Mr. Trump\u2019s ascent to office, Mr. Franken\u2019s sharp questioning of the president\u2019s nominees and policies became must-see TV in the capital.<\/span><\/p>\n

His questioning of Jeff Sessions, then a senator, during his confirmation hearing to be attorney general in January may prove to be one of his most important contributions as a senator. He pressed Mr. Sessions about reports of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, to which Mr. Sessions replied: \u201cSenator Franken, I\u2019m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn\u2019t have \u2014 did not have \u2014 communications with the Russians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The exchange helped force Mr. Sessions to recuse himself from the Justice Department\u2019s investigation into Russia\u2019s interference in the presidential election and helped prompt the naming of a special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who has dogged the Trump administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senate Democrats were reluctant on Thursday to fully address the arc of Mr. Franken\u2019s downfall, blazing past reporters or offering only brief thanks that Mr. Franken put an end to the uncertainty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaving the Capitol shortly after his speech, Mr. Franken said he would not be taking questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

But asked whether he had a message for his home state, he said, \u201cI\u2019ll be coming home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/07\/us\/politics\/al-franken-senate-sexual-harassment.html?mtrref=news.google.com&gwh=C236CE9C608851C64110703346E67568&gwt=pay<\/span><\/p>\n

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