Democrat senator Al Franken apologises after being accused of groping radio host while she was asleep

A radio broadcaster has accused U.S. Senator Al Franken of touching her breasts while she slept and forcing a kiss on her in 2006 when he was still a comedian and the two were preparing to perform before U.S. troops in the Middle East.

Anchor Leeann Tweeden related her experience in a first-person account on the website of Los Angeles station KABC amid outrage over numerous reports of sexual misconduct by powerful men from Hollywood to Capitol Hill.

Ms Tweeden said Mr Franken, a former host of the Saturday Night Live show, wrote a skit that included a kiss between the two and said he insisted upon rehearsing it, which she at first resisted.

"He repeated that actors really need to rehearse everything and that we must practice the kiss. I said 'OK' so he would stop badgering me," she wrote. 

"We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."

She said she pushed Mr Franken away but felt disgusted and violated.

Ms Tweeden also said the former comedian groped her while she slept during their flight home on a military plane. "I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated," Tweeden wrote. 

"How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?"

She posted a photo someone had taken of Mr Franken posing for a photo with his hands on the flak jacket that covered her breasts.

"I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it," the senator said in a statement.

Sexual misconduct allegations have been leveled against several well-known men in the entertainment industry and Roy Moore, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama, has been accused of having sexual contact with teenage girls decades ago. 

Mr Moore, 70, has denied the accusations and said he was the victim of a witch hunt.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called for a review of Mr Franken case. "As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter," he said.

Mr Franken was a well-known American comedian before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008 as a Democrat from Minnesota.

Lawmakers this week shared stories of women and men being propositioned and groped in the halls of the U.S. Capitol as Congress reviewed sexual harassment policies.

Ms Tweeden said she was telling her story now because she was still angry.

"I'm telling my story because there may be others," she said.

Mr Franken has called for an ethics investigation into his own actions. 

In a lengthy statement, Mr Franken said: "I want to apologise to Leeann, to everyone else who was part of that your, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women.

"I respect women. I don't respect men who don't . And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel embarrassed."