In two front page diaries she states as fact the Al Franken “groped and harrassed Leann Tweeden. Tweeden herself makes no such claim.
Tweeden claims that Franken wrote a script for a USO tour skit in which he kissed her on stage. She states that “she knew where this was going” and planned to evade the kiss onstage without telling Franken in advance, but that he insisted they practice the kiss. She said that was not necessary, she would be fine (lie) but finally assented to practicing, apparently without voicing concern about being kissed or how he might kiss her. When Franken kisses her in the classic vaudeville style, she is disgusted and becomes physically aggressive. She does not allege that he groped her (or touched her any where but on her head for the kiss). In the accompanying picture Franken is miming grabbing her breasts, but not physically touching her, not even the flak jacket she is wearing. She does not allege that he touched her before or after the photo was taken.
In these actions Franken is certainly indulging and reinforcing the sexual objectification of Tweeden. We can object to that. But would should note that Tweeden is a Playboy covergirl who is on a USO tour precisely to be sexually objectified. She makes no allegations that Franken coerced her to allow the kiss or any other sexual behavior. He has her consent in writing and she confirms that she gave him verbal consent to kiss her as rehearsal of the scene. She is by her own statement lying to Franken about her own comfort level. Franken is not demanding sexual compliance, he is trying to ensure consent before he lays a big wet one on her in front of 10,000 soldiers.
To reiterate, Tweeden is on a USO tour as a sex object, and Franken as a comedian. Part of the traditional humor in this context involves somewhat lude interactions between them. Franken does not assume this is acceptible but instead provides a script that indicates what exactly he will do, gives her an opportunity to object, voice concerns or qualifications. She responds that not only is she fine with the script, but that further clarification or rehearsal is unnecessary, but she is lying and does not intend to follow the script. He insists they practice the scene particularly the kiss, presumably because he is concerned that she may in fact react badly, despite her assurances (consent). To be clear she is not surprised that the kiss is unpleasant, she expects that and intends to avoid it on stage by her own account.
Other than participating in a professional capacity as a comedian who is objectifying women, Franken has done nothing wrong here. Of course he must apologize and be contrite because he is now a Senator and no longer a comedian. He did not grope Ms. Tweeden, and he made every attempt to obtain her informed consent before engaging in potentially awkward or demeaning activities when their professional roles required them. I am taking Tweeden at her word that these events happened exactly as she claims. By her own account she placed Franken in a terrible position by lying to him about her comfort with the skit as written and her intention to perform it. She then reacted unprofessionally to the kiss, and worse betrayed Franken’s trust by accusing him of taking advantage of her.
But Claussen’s behavior is much worse. She accuses a respected Democratic Senator of crimes in contradiction even of the claims of his accuser not once but twice. As this site is dedicated to advancing progressive aims through electing Democrats, I see no way that can be countenanced here. She should resign or be fired.