Another Woman Has Accused Al Franken of Groping

Another woman has come forward accusing Al Franken of groping her, bringing the number of women who have alleged misconduct against the comedian and former senator up to nine. The news of the allegation comes just days after a doting interview with Conan O’Brien and the announcement that Franken will be hosting a SiriusXM radio program.

The woman told New York magazine that Franken groped her in 2006 during a political event for Senator Patty Murray, whom she worked for as a college graduate. Franken was mulling over a Senate run at the time.

From New York:

The woman worked the photo line, and when it was her turn to be photographed with Franken, she said, “he puts his hand on my ass. He’s telling the photographer, ‘Take another one. I think I blinked. Take another one.’ And I’m just frozen. It’s so violating. And then he gives me a little squeeze on my buttock, and I am bright red. I don’t say anything at the time, but I felt deeply, deeply uncomfortable.”

A military veteran who is now a senior staffer at a major progressive organization, she is the ninth woman to accuse Franken of inappropriate conduct and the fourth to say Franken grabbed her butt.

The anonymous woman told New York that she didn’t tell anyone about the incident at the time due to embarrassment and a fear of retribution. She says she had wanted to run for office, too:

The woman says that at the time, she dreamed of running for office, and the incident “rocked my confidence … This created a moment of reflection on like, Who the hell do you think you are? There is something that tells men that they, particularly those who have a lot of power, that they have access to my body in some way that is based on the hierarchy of the organization that we’re working in or society or whatever it is.”