Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) took to the Senate floor Thursday morning to announce his resignation, after the number of sexual harassment allegations against the senator continued to climb earlier this week.
“Serving in the U.S. Senate has been the great honor of my life. I know in my heart that nothing I have done as a senator has brought dishonor on this institution, and I am confident that the ethics committee would agree,” Franken said, adding that he could not both cooperate with an ethics investigation and effectively serve the people of Minnesota.
Since the allegations against Franken first surfaced in November, he has repeatedly apologized and pushed back against the narrative of some of his accusers. But after a sixth woman came forward earlier this week to accuse Franken of sexual harassment, senate Democrats began calling for his resignation in droves. “Enough is enough,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. Her sentiments were echoed by 13 female and 19 male Democrats, and at least one senate Republican, Susan Collins (Maine).
Most Republicans have remained relatively quiet on the allegations against Franken, as many of them have provided renewed support for Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in next week’s special election for the Alabama senate seat, who has been accused of pursuing underage girls.
