Sen. Al Franken Announces Senate Resignation After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

On Dec. 7, just one day after facing Democratic calls for action, Minnesota Senator Al Franken announced that he will be stepping down from the Senate "in the coming weeks."

The news comes a little under a month after KABC anchor Leeann Tweeden initially came forward to say that the senator had forcibly groped and kissed her during a USO tour in 2006. In the ensuing weeks, several other women have shared similar stories. Despite an ongoing Senate Ethics Committee investigation into the matter and continued questions about political precedent for these sorts of allegations, Franken chose to step down after facing incredible heat from Senate Democrats who were calling for his resignation.

"I am proud that during my time in the Senate I have used my power to be a champion of women and that I have earned a reputation as someone that respects the women I work alongside every day," Franken said during his Senate floor announcement. "I know there has been a very different picture of me painted in the last few weeks, but I know who I really am."

Franken did not leave the floor without touching on the larger issue at hand, saying, "I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party."

Watch Franken's statement in full, courtesy of PBS News Hour, above.