Patterico's Pontifications

12/6/2017

Calls For Democratic Lawmakers To Resign In Face Of More Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

Filed under: General — Dana @ 1:18 pm



[guest post by Dana]

In today’s left side of the aisle sexual harassment news, Al Franken (D-MN.) has yet again been accused of sexual misconduct by a former Democratic congressional aide. The alleged incident took place in 2006:

The aide, whose name POLITICO is withholding to protect her identity, said Franken (D-Minn.) pursued her after her boss had left the studio. She said she was gathering her belongings to follow her boss out of the room. When she turned around, Franken was in her face.

The former staffer ducked to avoid Franken’s lips. As she hastily left the room, she said, Franken told her: “It’s my right as an entertainer.”

“He was between me and the door and he was coming at me to kiss me. It was very quick and I think my brain had to work really hard to be like ‘Wait, what is happening?’ But I knew whatever was happening was not right and I ducked,” the aide said in an interview. “I was really startled by it and I just sort of booked it towards the door and he said, ‘It’s my right as an entertainer.’”

Franken fully denies the latest accusation. In light of yet another allegation of groping or trying to forcibly kiss women, female Democratic lawmakers have called for Franken to step down. This includes Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) who recently said that Bill Clinton should have resigned over his scandal involving a young intern, and who said yesterday when asked whether Franken should resign that, although troubled by the situation, she wouldn’t call for him to step down. Just one more noble Democratic female demonstrating their side of the aisle’s classic profile in courage. Riiight.

For his part, Franken, whose unseeking hands mysteriously found themselves the unwilling recipients of women’s butts over the years, has denied this latest allegation. Franken, who blamed these “mishaps” on the fact that he is just “a warm person” who hugs people and too bad these accusers don’t understand this, is scheduled to make an announcement tomorrow.

Also happening on the left side of the aisle, Rep. John Conyers announced his resignation yesterday, effective immediately. This on the heels of two more accusers coming forward:

In the document released by lawyer Lisa Bloom, former staffer Elisa Grubbs said she worked in Conyers’ office from approximately 2001 to 2013. She claimed that the congressman “inappropriately touched” her during her time there. Grubbs also said she witnessed Conyers touching other women in the office.

In one incident, he slid his hand up her skirt and rubbed her thighs while the two were sitting next to each other in the front row of a church.

She said that when it happened she jumped up and exclaimed in front of other staffers, “He just ran his hand up my thigh!”

Another time at Conyers’ home, the congressman walked out of his bathroom naked, knowing that she was in the room, she said. She added that she “immediately ran out of the house.”

Also:

Grubbs said she saw Conyers stroking the legs and buttocks of other staffers on multiple occasions.

“Witnessing Rep. Conyers rub women’s thighs and buttocks and make comments about women’s physical attributes was a regular part of life while working in the Office of Rep. Conyers,” Grubbs said in the affidavit.

Amusingly, Conyers is endorsing his son, John Conyers III, to replace him in Congress because he believes he will be certain to preserve his legacy:

“My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what’ we’re going through now. This too shall pass,” the long-serving Congressman said. “My legacy will continue through my children. I have a great family here, especially in my oldest boy, John Conyers III, who I endorse to replace me in my seat in Congress.” He continued, “We’re all working together.”

Sure. Because when you think of John and Monica Conyers, you think the very definition of a great family…

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

111 Responses to “Calls For Democratic Lawmakers To Resign In Face Of More Allegations of Sexual Misconduct”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (023079)

  2. Letting ethics triumph over politics – how quaint.

    No wonder they’re in the minority!

    Dave (445e97)

  3. I particularly like how it takes seven accusations before a Democratic senator is asked to step down. Good to know what the threshold is.

    Dana (023079)

  4. Yes, Dave. Now do Roy Moore and President Trump.

    Dana (023079)

  5. “It’s my right as an entertainer.”

    Hmm, where have I heard that before?

    Ah, yes. Now I remember!

    “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

    Dave (445e97)

  6. Lets remember what Stuart smalleys purpose was as with begich, whoever they dredged up in Idaho, it was to secure obanacares passage.

    narciso (d1f714)

  7. Progressives make me ill. The minute they’re accused they do theirchristian duty and confess their sins. In all these decades they’ve learned nothing about denial from their opponent.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  8. it’s time for people to start standing up to these mewling victims

    enough is enough

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  9. This is the best news for Minnesotans since 1991. The last time they won the World Series.

    mg (60b0f7)

  10. Cleaning House and Senate is fine; but not by ‘anonymous’ accusation. It echoes a feverish era.

    “=wrap=wrap=wrap= Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? Answer the question!!!”

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  11. For both sides, HF? Oh but when a famous Asian American beard takes a similar tack, you get disgusted.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  12. DC

    Why are liberals so prone to shaming themselves as opposed to the Self Awareness brigade?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  13. Guilt by association is very ‘in’ these days. Lest ye forget, Ted Kennedy’s best Senate bud was Orrin Hatch. Now he backs Moore.

    Purge the prig.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  14. a foolish consistency and et cetera Mr. leftbehind

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  15. Oh yeah.

    what about Chappiquiddick?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  16. @12. Ben, they have no shame, Ben. It’s about winning. But let’s go there: charge Gillibrand with menopause.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  17. @12. Ugly is a blight; a sin, too, Ben. Feinstein and Waters have to go.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  18. That equates to psychometrics.

    The country is sociopath?

    I find that too conservative so it must include independents.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  19. DC

    Cryptkeeper and Sara Hillbilly are hot

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  20. They have maintained a phony charge against Clarence Thomas, all the way holding weinstein, spacey, franker as role models, abramson couldn’t have advanced to the head of Carlos slims without, Mayer caught have been harder to whitewash terrorists at this new worker, the outrage is feigned and tactical.

    narciso (d1f714)

  21. Huckabee’s eye sockets have that atavistic tic reminiscent of the Neaderthal inbreeds. We thought they died out.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  22. @18. ‘America the Beautiful’ demands to be entertained in the guise of governance only by the beautiful people. Captain’s orders: ‘so let it be written; so let it be done.’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  23. Let us suppose a woman suffers an indignity (by touch or gesture, word or allusion) and responds by instantly inflicting a single sharp slap in the face to the aggressor.

    Do the majority of aggressors accept the correction and apologize and carry on with the status quo ante? Do they respond violently and escalate? Or do they file complaints with HR? Are there other likely categories of outcome?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B76s0SF47xw

    pouncer (915d55)

  24. The really bad thing is I know she probably isn’t a tweaker, but she works her jaw like she’s grinding corn as she talks. It’s somewhat disconcerting.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  25. Huckabee’s eye sockets have that atavistic tic reminiscent of the Neaderthal inbreeds. We thought they died out.

    Daddy Huckabee does not make pretty babies that’s for sure but Sarah’s a spitfire and a kinder soul there never was

    plus also she makes pie

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  26. Name names, Elaine Chao! Name NAMES. Otherwise, no turtle soup for you!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  27. @21. Take the measure- and a closer look- at George Clooney, too.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  28. @25. In pairs, Mr. Feet. Two rack oven: one for her the other for the hubby and kiddies.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  29. “Progressives make me ill. The minute they’re accused they do theirchristian duty and confess their sins. In all these decades they’ve learned nothing about denial from their opponent.

    [Bill and Hillary nod their heads and applaud]

    harkin (b274da)

  30. “Progressives make me ill.”

    Should have stopped right there.

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  31. He could have appointed deer in headlights #4 prospect Hope Hicks in that role, but he decided to get that body positive Pioneer Woman demo instead.

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  32. Hope Hicks is hawt.

    Just sayin’.

    Dave (c37c3d)

  33. Hoagie:

    They’re too in touch with other’s feelings .

    Empathy and compassion are vestigial emotions. Thanks to y’all for the Christian primer on good faith behaviors .

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  34. I like Ann Coulter but wish she would eat a burrito.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  35. I wish Laura Ingraham would look into adenoids surgery but she doesn’t have to talk. Dana Loesch can open and redirect my fist anytime.

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  36. Orrin Hatch: Ted Kennedy confidant; Roy Moore apologist; cultist.

    Purge the prig!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sglyFwTjfDU

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  37. I also am attracted to Melania as Stepford wife. I always wanted a consensual sex-slave.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  38. I like Ann Coulter but wish she would eat a burrito.

    Ann’s been on a downward spiral ever since she refused to go out with me almost twenty years ago.

    Breaks my heart to watch.

    Dave (c37c3d)

  39. Is Slovenia a large market for human trafficking?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  40. Dave

    Whew! I’ve heard she’s a Dominatrix.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  41. I bet she has a strap-on.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  42. @38. The Adam’s Apple of your eye, eh.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  43. 42

    Right? She has a husky voice.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  44. attracted to Melania

    Gross. Think of where she’s been.

    Plus, she puts on her make-up with a trowel…

    Dave (c37c3d)

  45. 44

    At my age where she’s been is a moot point. Where has she been?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  46. Proving my point?

    narciso (d1f714)

  47. 38/44 – Letterman or Cross, is that you?

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  48. i can’t believe Senator Franken’s gonna let them hound him out of office like that

    this should be up to the voters

    idiot pansy-assed loser i hate you

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  49. burritos are too many carbohydrate

    this is who they are

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  50. John Wayne, is this you. Is this me?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  51. It’s not the burrito, it’s the type of bean, pinto makes ya fat, black beans much less so (Miami and the Caribe v. Cali and the RGV)

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  52. Counter dated Maher, at some point, so yech a this just another portmanteau

    narciso (d1f714)

  53. Flattered, but no, not even a jump-off from his Durango studio days.

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  54. @44. All the same, Dave, she’s still the best thing to watch boarding AF1 since The Big Dick left town in ’74.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  55. Black legumes matter less?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  56. @43 Right? She has a husky voice.

    Are you implying she’s a dog or just screwed the pooch voicing support for our Captain?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  57. They amount to less calories versus the pinto bean.

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  58. they have a lot of carbs

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  59. 36 grams per cup, which means they do not have a functional role to play in no carb christmas

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  60. She liked Christie, defends McConnell and Thad Cochran, and is friend with benefits to Jimmy Dynomite Walker. Weird.

    urbanleftbehind (c54a05)

  61. 56

    What goes through your mind as you listen to a woman with an alto/baritone voice?

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  62. What goes through your mind as you listen to a woman with an alto/baritone voice?

    Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner?

    Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7)

  63. Merman

    Lol. I never thought…

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  64. And I’ll wager Merman abused understudies

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  65. @65. Look what she did to Berle:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Pv8WWvcAs 

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  66. Berle deserved everything he got. He’d sell his mother, then send her C.O.D.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  67. Really. The man would do anything if it got him camera time

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  68. FELLOW CONSERVATIVES, IT’S TIME TO CALL ON CLARENCE THOMAS TO RESIGN

    By Jay Kaganoff December 6 at 6:00 AM [Jay Kaganoff is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. He has written for National Review Online and Commentary Magazine, among others.]

    “I believe Anita Hill. I believe that Clarence Thomas abused his authority to sexually harass a woman who worked for him. And lied about it. And smeared his accuser. And got away with it. As painful as it is to repudiate a man I respected, I believe Thomas should never have been confirmed and should resign.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/12/06/fellow-conservatives-its-time-to-call-on-clarence-thomas-to-resign/?utm_term=.33630347c9f6

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  69. Anita Hill lied and Clarence Thomas told the truth and that’s what most people thought after hearing both of them testify. She claimed she followed him to another job because of teh possibility that the Department of Education was going to be abolished – and she could never explain why that should worry her given that she had civil service protection. Her fellow emoployees said she did NOT avoid Clarence Thomas.

    When asked why she eventually quit she told people maybe that she’d been sexually harassed without further detail and she was forced into the open by pressure from Yale Law School graduates. At first her name was confidential but then it was laked – probably by Bill and Hillary Clinton.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  70. The CBS vening News reported that Senator Al Franken met Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at Schumer’s home (in Washington) yesterday and Schumer told him it is time to go. It also said about half of the Democratic Senators have now called on Franken to resign. I guess he could be thretened with expulsion, whc=ich would be bad precedent.

    All this happened before he was elected Senator.

    A Wall Street Journal editorial says there’s another woman who claims to have evidence against Roy Moore Roy Moore denied even knowing any of the women who have been mentioned. This woman says Roy Moore dated her when she was 17.

    She has produced what she says is a greeting card he sent her, plus a page in her scrapbook where she listed him as a guest in her high school graduation, above her parents. I don’t know any further details, as to quality and credibility of this evidence. Roy Moore doesn’t have to deny this kind of thing.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  71. It’s my right as an entertainer

    Only if it in the script! This moment, if it took place was unscripted.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  72. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for any fair-minded person to doubt that Al Franken has a marked “handsy-ness” problem. Apart from the Politico story of this morning (and the accumulated earlier accounts), there’s now an additional first-hand report this evening from Tina Dupuy.

    Myself, I’m sorely disappointed in Franken. Not only because the evidence is looking particularly strong that he is and has been quite “the pig” (in a particularly juvenile sort of way, admittedly, as these things go). But also because if this character flaw is real (as it appears to be), surely he was intelligent enough to know this about himself, intelligent enough to know there would be more reports of his behavior, intelligent enough to know that he would, before too long, be forced to reckon with it with considerable more candor, and yet he continued to lie.

    With this second Wednesday Bombshell, I give considerable more credence to the rumors that Franken will in fact resign tomorrow. If he survives that long, having faced the reaction of his wife, his family and his friends.

    Q! (86710c)

  73. John Conyers III, who may run to replace his father, was arrested for domestic abuse in February

    https://mobile.twitter.com/lachlan/status/938518811396984832

    harkin (b274da)

  74. Ann’s been on a downward spiral ever since she refused to go out with me almost twenty years ago.

    Breaks my heart to watch.
    Dave (c37c3d) — 12/6/2017 @ 2:57 pm

    Well apparently you’re not black.

    Pinandpuller (678829)

  75. Counter dated Maher, at some point, so yech a this just another portmanteau
    narciso (d1f714) — 12/6/2017 @ 3:15 pm

    House N*****.

    Pinandpuller (678829)

  76. I guess it’s Part of the outrage business, even Aaron mcgruder noticed it in his uncomic strip

    narciso (4346c7)

  77. What goes through your mind as you listen to a woman with an alto/baritone voice?
    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 12/6/2017 @ 3:22 pm

    Angie Harmon can eat crackers in bed while singing Elvira.

    Pinandpuller (678829)

  78. Jane Nadler from v the original, (although the echo effect was overdone)

    narciso (4346c7)

  79. It was too expensive for the series:

    http://v.wikia.com/wiki/Jane_Badler

    narciso (4346c7)

  80. “I quote Caitlin Flanagan at inordinate length for a reason. What she says about Hillary Clinton can be applied to virtually every woman (and man) who has been at work in the last couple of decades within our imperial liberal elite – whether it be in Hollywood, in journalism, or on the Hill.

    Meryl Streep, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and the other members of the sisterhood have turned their backs on Harvey Weinstein, Mark Halperin, Charlie Rose, John Conyers, Al Franken, Glenn Thrush, Matt Lauer, and the like. They say that they didn’t know or that, at most, they had heard a rumor or two. They are for the most part lying. Nearly all of them knew, as did Gloria Steinem and the liberals who defended Bill Clinton. The scale and the scope of these men’s misconduct were too large to have been anything other than an open secret.

    Moreover, those who knew were all complicit. Meryl Streep is a case in point. She did not give a damn about the antics of Harvey Weinstein. She was a public defender of Roman Polanski, whose taste as a rapist ran to underage girls. He was, after all, an artiste – a man beyond good and evil.”

    https://ricochet.com/475087/imperial-elite-unmasked/

    harkin (b274da)

  81. Q @75

    Good but who is Tina Dupuy? There’s no explanation there and she writes like she is little famous.

    OK – it looks like mostly, Al Franken sneakily groped only women he would never see again,with the possible exception of some people in the entertainment business – whom he also wouuldn’t see again after a while.

    He was inspired by Groucho Marx – or rather, by what Gorucho Marx pretended to be (but Groucho only looked)

    I never liked Franken for other reasons. And that can be said of almost all of them.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  82. The Greeks have an expression: “He went for wool and came back shorn.”

    It seems to be happening a lot to Democrats, in and out of government. Heh!

    nk (dbc370)

  83. Franken announces resignation from Senate floor.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  84. Thats 3 years for an even scarier Minnesota democrat to get their hooks in. Well played, Keef.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  85. There will be an election next year.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  86. 2018

    Watershed…apocalypse..rising Phoenix from Trump firestorm.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  87. Then no keef, theyre probably gonna beg Bachmann.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  88. I’m only reading the live blog, not watching the speech. His blast at fellow creeps Trump and Moore was well-aimed, but there does not seem to be any contrition about his own actions in the excerpts posted.

    Dave (445e97)

  89. “He went for wool and came back shorn.”

    Funny… I had heard that one went “He went for teh reacharound and came back without a hand”…

    Colonel Haiku (7f045b)

  90. 94… Trump talked about how women were so impressed with stardom, they allowed some men to do it. Franken actually did it, no thought given to seeking permission, he just grabbed what he wanted.

    And you say you work at a university?

    Colonel Haiku (7f045b)

  91. “Tina Delgado Dupuy is alive, ALIVE!”

    Colonel Haiku (7f045b)

  92. So the decade of Al franker is over?

    narciso (d1f714)

  93. He went heavy (not in the literal weight sense), but now he must go home.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  94. “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,” Franken said.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  95. See? Denial works..

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  96. He should have made his resignation contingent on Alabama actually electing Doug Jones (thats the high bid, but would actually step aside also for Strange remaining).

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  97. 102 Since leverage is all Rumpublicans care about might as well stoop to their values

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  98. Like I said compared to his misapriation of funds re air America, and profiting from voter fraud, his griping was near beer.

    narciso (d1f714)

  99. Is this resignation just to halt an investigation of who knew what when, or to prevent other things, like the 2008 Minnesota Senate election, and who was involved in possibly stealing it, from coming up?

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)

  100. Trump talked about how women were so impressed with stardom, they allowed some men to do it.

    “Some men,” LOL.

    Yeah, Trump was describing sexual assaults that he had witnessed committed by other people.

    That’s why he said

    You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.

    (emphasis added)

    But, yeah – you’re probably right; we all know how much Donald Trump hates to talk about himself.

    Dave (445e97)

  101. President Trump is a keen observer and just an all around super-astute guy

    we’re lucky we have him doing the presidency for us that’s for sure

    the other alternatives were just ghastly

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  102. I can’t believe President Trump let a four-eyed putz like Al Franken insult him on national TV, in front of millions of people, without responding.

    Is Trump too ashamed or embarrassed to say anything? Will he be a total wimp and send a spokes-drone out to fight his battle for him?

    If only we had a strong leader in the White House, who wasn’t afraid to FIGHT!

    /sarc

    Dave (445e97)

  103. the franken speech was unbelievably dull

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  104. Dave: it can’t be shame. More like taking the 5th.

    Admiral Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  105. DAve @106. It’s not an assault when they consent, and tat’s what Donald Trump claimed happened. Some people profess to believe the first part but not the second, some believe all bit think it peertains on;yto certain women, like around Hollywood, I don’t believe either the first part or the second.

    I do believe he tried (sort of) to seduce a married woan, like he says.

    Sammy Finkelman (e70ce9)


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