Woman Says Al Franken Touched Her Inappropriately as They Posed for 2010 Photo

WASHINGTON — A woman claims that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) grabbed her buttocks as they posed for a photo at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010, according to CNN.

The woman, Lindsay Menz, is the second accuser to come forward to claim groping allegations against Franken. Last week, Leeann Tweeden, a newscaster in Los Angeles, claimed that Franken made inappropriate advances and groped her during a 2006 USO tour. Franken apologized and called for a Senate ethics committee investigation of the incident.

Menz told CNN that in 2010, Franken was at a booth at the state fair and they had a conversation before her husband got ready to take a photo of them. She said Franken “pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear. It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek.”

After the photo was taken and Franken left, she told her husband about what happened, along with her parents. She also posted the photo to Facebook, captioned “Dude — Al Franken TOTALLY molested me! Creeper!,” at the time.

Franken issued a statement to CNN on Sunday. “I take thousands of photos at the State Fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don’t remember taking this picture,” he said. “I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected.”

In light of the allegations from Tweeden, PBS cut Franken’s bit from a planned telecast of the Mark Twain Prize, set to air Monday night on public television stations.

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