Senate

Klobuchar taking over Franken’s sexual assault bill

Greg Nash

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is taking over Sen. Al Franken’s sexual assault survivors bill in the wake of sexual allegations against him.

Klobuchar’s office confirmed on Monday that she would now be the legislation’s sponsor.

“Senator Klobuchar spoke with Abby [Honold] this weekend. They had a good conversation, and Senator Klobuchar told Abby that she will be sponsoring the bill,” said Ben Hill, Klobuchar’s state director.

{mosads}

Honold, who was raped at the University of Minnesota in 2014, had been working with Franken (D-Minn.) on a bill to train law enforcement on how to interview survivors of sexual assault.

But The Washington Post reported that Honold was searching for a new sponsor for the bill after radio host Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of kissing and groping her without her consent in 2006.

A second woman, Lindsay Menz, also told CNN that Franken inappropriately grabbed her in 2010 at the Minnesota State Fair.

Klobuchar’s sponsorship of the forthcoming sexual assault bill comes after she pushed for the Senate to make its sexual harassment training mandatory.

The Senate passed its resolution earlier this month. The move was backed by Klobuchar and other key senators including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Tags Al Franken Al Franken Amy Klobuchar Amy Klobuchar Chuck Grassley Mitch McConnell Senate Sexual harassment

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See all Hill.TV See all Video

Most Popular

Load more

Video

See all Video