Woman Says Al Franken Touched Her Inappropriately During His First Senate Term

Franken. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Another woman has come forward to accuse Senator Al Franken of inappropriate touching. Lindsay Menz, a 33-year-old woman living in Frisco, Texas, told CNN that Franken grabbed her butt during a photo op at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. This is the first allegation against the SNL alum turned senator from while he was in office. Menz said she attended the fair with her husband and father, and worked at a booth for a local radio station, sponsored by her father’s small business. When Franken came to the booth to take a photo, he “pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear,” Menz told CNN. “It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek.” Her husband confirmed her recollection: “He reached around her and kind of pulled her into him,” Jeremy Menz said. He didn’t see the groping, but recalled the photo, and she told him what happened immediately after. “He pulled her in and pushed his head against her head. It was over pretty quick.”

Menz said her family and friends on Facebook encouraged her to come forward after she posted a status recounting her encounter with Franken. She first made the post after reading about Leeann Tweeden, a local radio news anchor in California who said Franken kissed and groped her in 2006. Following the first allegation, both SNL and late night skewered Franken, while PBS dropped him from a special honoring David Letterman. “I don’t want to paint my story in the same light as hers,” Menz said. “The reason I want to say something is if someone sees that I said something, maybe it would give them the courage to say something too.”

Woman Says Franken Touched Her Inappropriately in 2010