Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Al Franken Regrets Resigning — And 7 Senators Regret Telling Him To

Seven senators regret calling for former Senator Al Franken to resign for sexually inappropriate behavior, saying that their decision was made in haste.

A New Yorker story questioned the account of the first woman who accused the Minnesota senator of indecent contact. In November 2017, a photo was released of Franken pretending to grab talk-radio host Leeann Tweeden’s breasts during a 2006 U.S.O. tour. Tweeden also accused him forcibly kissing her. Seven more allegations of groping or unwanted kisses arose, and 36 Democratic senators urged him to resign. Both Franken and Tweeden requested an independent investigation, which never happened.

Now, seven senators say they wish they had gotten the full story before urging Franken to leave office three weeks after the accusation arose. Franken himself said he “absolutely” regrets resigning and wishes he had instead testified at a Senate Ethics Committee hearing.

“I can’t go anywhere without people reminding me of this, usually with some version of ‘You shouldn’t have resigned,’” Franken told investigative reporter Jane Mayer. He said he usually replies, “Yep.”

Patrick Leahy of Vermont said his call for Franken to resign was “one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made” in forty-five years in the Senate. Tammy Duckworth, the junior Democratic senator from Illinois, acknowledged the trauma of Franken’s accusers but said that, “We needed more facts.” Bill Nelson said he also wishes he stood up for due process. Heidi Heitkamp, Angus King, Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall shared similar sentiments.

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.