Cory Booker urges Al Franken to quit over 'what seems to be a pattern' of sexual misdeeds

Herb Jackson
NorthJersey
Sen. Cory Booker

Sen. Cory Booker joined a chorus of Democratic senators calling on Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to resign on Wednesday after a new report said Franken cornered an unnamed Democratic congressional aide in 2006 and forcibly tried to kiss her.

"These courageous women have come forward, and I think clearly this last revelation adds to what seems to be a pattern here," Booker told The Record and NorthJersey.com. "That was enough to make me come to the conclusion that even though there is a process established, that desperately needs to be changed, it is is right that he should step down at this point." 

Booker said he reached out to Franken by text message to let him know of his decision but had not heard back. The day began with more than a half-dozen female senators issuing statements at roughly the same time calling for Franken to resign.

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"I think it's time that he steps down, and this is an opportunity for him to speak to the larger issues that are clearly being evidenced not only for his life but also what's going on in American culture," Booker said later in a television interview.

After first being accused of making unwanted advances or groping women, Franken had called for the ethics committee to investigate his behavior and fellow senators had stood by him. The latest report in Politico changed that.

"As I was going about the day, somebody finally handed me the article and I sat down and read it and saw the fact pattern for what it was and came to that conclusion," Booker said.

Franken's office said he would have a statement on Thursday.

Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from Paramus, told reporters that Franken "is coming to terms with the implications for his ability to remain in the Senate." 

"He has an announcement tomorrow, and I’m confident he’ll do the right thing,” Menendez said. 

Menendez said anyone coming forward with credible accounts of sexual harassment or misconduct deserves to be heard, and the process for reporting harassment is too complicated, slow and secretive.

"The bottom line is that in any field, it is wrong for men in positions of power to take advantage of that authority to harass, abuse or intimidate women," Menendez said.