Washington - US Democratic Senator Al
Franken announced his resignation on Thursday after facing a
series of sexual misconduct allegations, and Republican
Representative Trent Franks also said he was stepping down as he
too was hit with ethics charges.
Franken, buffeted for weeks by sexual harassment charges and
under pressure from party colleagues, said on the Senate floor
he would leave in a few weeks, although he denied some of the
allegations against him and questioned others.
The 66-year-old former comedian from Minnesota had been seen
as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
"I know in my heart that nothing I've done as a senator -
nothing - has brought dishonour on this institution," he said.
"Nevertheless, today I am announcing that in the coming weeks, I
will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate."
Hours later, Franks announced his resignation after two
former staff members complained about discussions he had with
them about his efforts to find a surrogate mother.
"I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and
process in the workplace caused distress," said Franks, who was
first elected to his Arizona congressional seat in 2002 and is
an outspoken opponent of abortion.
Franks said in a statement that he and his wife "have long
struggled with infertility".
The developments came with Congress already held in low
regard by voters. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 20
percent approved of the way Congress was handling its job, with
70 percent disapproving.
In recent weeks, charges of sexual misconduct have taken
down prominent people in the worlds of entertainment, media and
politics.
It is somewhat rare for members of the Senate or House of
Representatives to resign from office, but veteran Democratic
Representative John Conyers also resigned earlier this week amid
sexual harassment accusations that he has denied.
The House Ethics Committee said on Thursday it was
investigating yet another lawmaker. Blake Farenthold, a
Republican representative from Texas, faces allegations of
sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation involving a
former female staff member.
Franken has the highest profile of the lawmakers hit by
allegations in the past few weeks.
Reuters has not independently verified the accusations
against Franken, Franks, Conyers or Farenthold.
Franken's seat will initially be filled by a Democrat
appointed by Minnesota's Democratic governor, meaning the
Republicans' slim majority in the Senate will not change.
Allegations that Franken had groped and tried to kiss women
without their consent began to surface three weeks ago.
He initially said he was embarrassed and ashamed by his
behaviour but would not resign.
But the majority of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate
called on Wednesday for his resignation after a new allegation,
denied by Franken, hit the news.
"Some of the allegations against me are simply not true.
Others I remember very differently," Franken said on Thursday.
Striking a tone of defiance, he also sought to contrast
himself with two prominent Republicans - President Donald Trump
and Senate candidate Roy Moore.
"I, 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," he said.
Trump was heard bragging about kissing and forcibly touching
women in a 2005 videotape that surfaced last year as he was
running for the White House. He apologized for the remarks, but
called them private "locker-room talk" and said he had not done
the things he talked about.
Trump also denied allegations at that time by at least 12
women of sexual advances and groping in the past.
Moore, who is running for the Senate in Alabama in a special
election on Tuesday, has been accused by several women of sexual
assault or misconduct when they were teenagers and Moore was in
his early 30s. Moore, 70, has denied the accusations, which
Reuters has not independently verified.
Trump has backed Moore, but Senate Republicans have been
cooler toward his candidacy.
In pressing Franken to step aside, Democrats have tried to
capture the moral high ground and draw a distinction between
their party and Republicans.
"In every workplace in America, including the US Senate,
we must confront the challenges of harassment and misconduct,"
said Amy Klobuchar, Franken's fellow Democratic senator from
Minnesota.
Similarly, House Republican Speaker Paul Ryan said on
Thursday he had told Franks that he should resign.
A special election will be scheduled to determine a
replacement for Franks.
While a Democrat will be appointed initially to replace
Franken, his departure could complicate the party's efforts to
maintain or build on the 46 Senate seats they hold. Two
independent senators also vote with the Democrats.
Republicans are defending eight seats in the congressional
elections in November 2018 but Democrats will be defending 26 if
Minnesota holds a special election for Franken's seat.
The election to fill Franken's seat could be close. When he
ran in 2008, the race was decided after an extensive recount,
with Minnesota's Supreme Court weighing in.
In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Hillary Clinton
won the state by less than 2 percentage points.