An Army veteran has accused Senator Al Franken of groping her breast during a 2003 USO tour in Kuwait, the fifth woman to come forward with accusations against the Minnesota Democrat in the last two weeks, Politico writes.
Former military policewoman Stephanie Kemplin told CNN that Franken put his hand on her breast during a photo opportunity, keeping it there for five to 10 seconds, which she said was long enough that he should have noticed if it was a mistake.
“When he put his arm around me, he groped my right breast. He kept his hand all the way over on my breast. I’ve never had a man put their arm around me and then cup my breast. So he was holding my breast on the side.” Kemplin said.
In a photo of the two released by CNN, Franken’s hand is around Kemplin’s back at roughly chest level but is not on her breast. A Franken spokesperson said in a statement that the senator “takes thousands of photos and has met tens of thousands of people and he has never intentionally engaged in this kind of conduct.”
The accusation made by Kemplin matches a pattern established by the other allegations against Franken. His first accuser, broadcaster Leeann Tweeden, said Franken insisted on kissing her during a rehearsal for a skit the two performed on a USO tour in 2006 and then later appeared to touch her chest in a photo as she slept, Politico adds.
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