Leeann Tweeden's questionable claims.

[pnwmom]

1. She claimed to have been groped, but the photo doesn’t show contact.

2. She claimed that she was only expecting to emcee and introduce acts. But she performed in multiple bawdy skits – with and without Franken -- not just the “kiss” skit.

3. She claimed that “When I saw the script, Franken had written a moment when his character comes at me for a ‘kiss’. I suspected what he was after.”

Funnily enough, her CHARACTER made the same claim IN THE SKIT:

“Now you just wrote this so you could kiss me. I am so onto you. If I were going to kiss anybody it would be one of these soldiers out here!”

(And Franken didn't write the skit for Leann. It had been performed with another actor as early as 2003.)

4. She claimed to have never had a voluntary conversation with Al Franken again. That hasn’t been proven one way or another, but there is a happy looking photo of them on the plane.


http://www.kabc.com/2017/11/16/leeann-tweeden-on-senator-al-franken/

FROM TWEEDEN'S QUESTIONABLE STATEMENT:

"Franken had written some skits for the show and brought props and costumes to go along with them. Like many USO shows before and since, the skits were full of sexual innuendo geared toward a young, male audience.

"As a TV host and sports broadcaster, as well as a model familiar to the audience from the covers of FHM, Maxim and Playboy, I was only expecting to emcee and introduce the acts, but Franken said he had written a part for me that he thought would be funny, and I agreed to play along.

"When I saw the script, Franken had written a moment when his character comes at me for a ‘kiss’. I suspected what he was after, but I figured I could turn my head at the last minute, or put my hand over his mouth, to get more laughs from the crowd.

SNIP

"I tried to let it go, but I was angry.

"Other than our dialogue on stage, I never had a voluntary conversation with Al Franken again. I avoided him as much as possible and made sure I was never alone with him again for the rest of the tour."

______________________________________________________________


FROM THE KISS-SKIT WITH FRANKEN:(which had first been performed by another actor in 2003)

(READING FROM SCRIPT) Now kiss me! (FRANKEN KISSES HER.) Now you just wrote this so you could kiss me. I am so onto you. If I were going to kiss anybody it would be one of these soldiers out here!

Link to tweet

ANOTHER SKIT THAT SHE DIDN’T EXPECT TO BE A PART OF.But she does a pretty good job making the best of things, doesn't she?

Link to tweet

ON THE WAY HOME, NEVER TALKING TO HIM AGAIN.

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/11/18/1716798/-More-Photos-Emerging-From-Franken-Tweeden-s-USO-Tour-They-speak-for-themselves

[question everything]

1. I was not pay much attention to the "kiss" since it clearly falls into "she said/he said"

But the photo is real. Or is it supposed to have been... photoshopped?

And, yes, the easy way that men like to "cup" women's breasts reminded me of that photo of Jon Favreau - Obama's speech writer - who "cupped" Hillary's breasts on a cutout and retained his job.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029853673



And if the photo is real, are we really now blaming the victim for working at Hooter or other racier places?

[pnwmom]

2. The photo has shadows under the fingers that show he's not really touching her,

just hovering or pretending to touch.

And nothing I posted has anything to do with Hooters. The videos are from her other performances on the USO tour. She claimed to have been surprised that Franken wanted her to perform in a skit, because she'd been "expecting" only to emcee. Funny, because she performed in multiple bawdy skits, and not just with Franken.

When an alleged victim tells enough obvious falsehoods, they should lose credibility.

[question everything]

4. Of course he is not touching. This is a flat surface this is why is "cupping."

As Dee Dee Myers wrote:

What’s bugging me is his intention. He isn’t putting his hand on her “chest,” as most of the articles and conversations about the picture have euphemistically referred to it. Rather, his hand—cupped just so—is clearly intended to signal that he’s groping her breast. And why? Surely, not to signal he finds her attractive. Au contraire. It’s an act of deliberate humiliation. Of disempowerment. Of denigration.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029853673

I think that this can be applied to the photo.

No, not your post. But many here did mention Hooters and Maxim(?) to discredit her. This is why I can accept that the kiss was agreed upon. My problem is with the photo.

[pnwmom]

5. He apologized for the photo and she accepted his apology.

And the photo doesn't show him touching her -- so it's not assault. Shouldn't this be the end of it?

[question everything]

6. Yes, it should

Still, he wants the Ethics committee to look into it as this is his right.

[pnwmom]

7. And that's fine. I suspect she won't want to participate though. We'll see. n/t

[still_one]

8. Of course she won't since there are plenty of questionable photos coming out from that occasion

which indicate her indignation may not be quite sincere, and even more than that, I sincerely doubt the republicans want to pursue that bag of worms, not because Franken's action was inappropriate, even in the form of an immature prank, but the rocks they fear that will be overturned as a result of any investigation

[pnwmom]

9. Right. They won't really want to set the precedent of investigating every single claim

no matter how questionable or slight.

[Beartracks]

3. "Republican operatives try to... use liberals decency against us."

Quote from the DailyKos writer's first sentence shows that he/she gets it: "Republican operatives try to weaponize the MeToo movement and use liberals’ decency against us."

Republicans always try to do this. As liberals, we're "supposed" to automatically feel empathy for the female accuser, and derision for the male accused. We're "supposed" to tolerate everyone, even bigots and assholes. We're "supposed" to go high when they go low.
Republicans and their (Russian?) friends count on that.

============

[pnwmom]

10. That is exactly what they do. n/t

[wallyworld2]

17. They did it to Shirley Sherrod for the same reason.

On July 19, 2010, Shirley Sherrod was fired from her appointed position as Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture.[1][2] Her firing was an administration reaction to media reports on video excerpts from her address to an event of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in March 2010 and commentary posted by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart on his website.[3] Based on these excerpts, the NAACP condemned Sherrod's remarks as racist and US government officials called on the official to resign. However, review of her full speech showed that the excerpts had been selectively edited, and that her remarks – understood in context – were about the importance of overcoming personal prejudices.

The NAACP and White House officials then apologized for their earlier criticisms, and United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized for the firing and offered Sherrod a new position.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firing_of_Shirley_Sherrod

In today's atmosphere nobodies going to apologize to Senator Franken, nobodies going to offer him a new position and a good man who could have had a very long progressive legislative career, will have had his life ruined.

[Lil Missy]

11. ffs give it a rest.

[pnwmom]

14. Sure I will. As soon as people stop calling for him to resign. n/t

[Lil Missy]

15. Its not necessary to cast aspersions on the victim. Nor should he resign

Franken is not a predator in spite of this incident

[MFM008]

16. Its POSSIBLE

A single accuser has MOTIVE.
Political high stakes.
to remove or ruin the moral high ground from an effective Senator....
to attempt to force someone out of office.
I have good instincts.
I Smell a giant
drunk perverted rat in the form of Roger Stone and or Steve Bannon.
then of course donnie Choir boy jumps in with his moral musings on twitter.

[Madam45for2923]

25. You forgot Hannity in your list.

[rainlillie]

18. She's NOT a victim.. she's a political operative..

As soon as I heard Stone was involved, I knew this was bullshit!

[pnwmom]

19. The ALLEGED victim. n/t

[Beartracks]

44. True that. n/t

[azureblue]

28. of course not

everyone knows it is OK when a woman grabs ass. and she grabs the guitar player's butt right on stage. There is no denying, parsing, dodging, etc. The video is plain as day. Where are the howling hordes with their pitchforks, ready to tar and feather her for sexual assault? Eh, trolls? where is your outrage now?

[moriah]

21. I don't see anyone on here calling for that, though.

What I DID see, not when I clicked the button on this relatively mild post, but on others...

Unless "slut-shaming" falls under the "no bigotry/insensitivity" rule, I didn't know which rule to choose about why saying because she tackle-hugged Robin Williams obviously she wanted to be Frenched or have a photo taken while she was asleep is inappropriate on DU.

Hell, it took a *long* time for the thread that outright said her choices to let men ogle her body on her own terms meant it was impossible for her to now claim to be an "innocent victim". Fuck that noise, the only "guilty victim" is one making a false allegation, raping a prostitute isn't theft of property, taking a sexualized picture of a model while she's asleep isn't "fine" just because she has modeled in sexual positions while awake.

Of course, if I'd been her, I'd have sent the USO and Franken a copyright claim on the photo 10 years ago, saying her agreement to let the USO use her image only included images while she was awake. But if she felt the USO would end up eating the bills instead of Franken, she might have considered and tossed the option.

[LisaL]

22. I think its pretty obvious Franken didn't write the skit for her specifically, considering

this thread has a video of Franken doing the skit with the kiss in 2003. She states she suspected Franken was after something because there was a kiss in the skit. What was he after, exactly? Other than entertainment for the troops, that is?

[moriah]

27. I have no idea, truthfully. I'm going with what he's admitted to.

Especially since, even if it *should* be illegal, unwanted tongue isn't against the law in my state. Unless they also grab your ass in the process. And then it doesn't matter if your ass is covered in full body armor, they're still guilty of a sex crime. But for grabbing ass, not unwanted tongue.

That's what I get for living in Arkansas, though....

[LisaL]

30. He didn't admit to "unwanted" tongue.

Said he remembers it differently than her.
But the idea that he wrote the skit with a kiss because of his intentions for her doesn't pass the smell test, since he was doing the skit without her 3 years before he was doing the skit with her.

[moriah]

31. Exactly. He didn't admit and it wouldn't be a crime here.

Neither would the photo, unless a single pinky finger had made contact with the vest. Then he'd be guilty of 2nd degree sexual assault here -- all over whether there was contact made with the vest over the boobs.

Even though there's a gigantic vest and jacket preventing any possibility of the victim feeling the contact through the clothing. The reason "under or over clothing" is in the law is because those definitions of "sexual contact" are used in child sex assault cases, too, and we'd all agree if it was our kid we'd want the perv who grabbed our daughter's chest through her shirt prosecuted.

Which is actually why I was referencing our bloody strange laws. Fortunately it's obvious from the photo they were using angle to give the *impression* of touching. He wasn't touching her. He broke no laws.

[pnwmom]

34. LisaL, where is the skit of Franken doing the act in 2003? I can't find it. n/t

[LisaL]

37. The first video in your OP.

Franken doing the skit with a different actress in 2003.

[pnwmom]

39. That's funny.

I thought that was Leann.

I guess all models look the same to me.

[LisaL]

40. Whoever twitted it apparently labeled it incorrectly.

There is one floating on one of the threads here somewhere with the correct name of the actress.

[Denzil_DC]

23. I saw a few, I think relatively early on. Other than that, it's a strawman.

Here's a sad aspect to the story:

Al Franken wrote a bill to help rape survivors like me. He can’t lead on it now.

In November 2014, I was raped.

I’m certainly not the only one something this awful has happened to, but afterward, I felt as though I was. I was a 19-year-old college student. My life changed overnight. I faced an incredibly long fight to bring my attacker to justice: Daniel Drill-Mellum was wealthy, well-connected, and willing to throw me and my reputation under the bus. The #MeToo culture I’ve seen develop publicly over the last month wasn’t around to help me then. I was nearly harassed off the University of Minnesota campus for reporting. I was turned away by the Minneapolis Police Department despite the mountain of evidence in my case.

Over the next two years, I learned how to hold my frustration in, because I had an end goal in mind. I knew that my attacker belonged in prison, and I was determined to get the justice system on my side. I made mental notes about everything that was going wrong. I tried to have patience that someday I could make a different world. When my rapist was sentenced in August 2016 to six years in prison, I finally had my chance.

I sought help from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). He took up my cause without hesitation, and he worked with his aides to draft legislation to pay for training to help police departments treat assault survivors with more concern for what we’ve been through. But now that allegations have come out that Franken himself assaulted a woman years ago, I want another lawmaker to sponsor the bill we worked so hard on. This work deserves to be led by those without a history of sexual harassment or assault.

The news this week was especially disappointing for me because of how effective an advocate Franken has been for my cause. I felt my heart sink when I saw the news, but I was prepared to support the woman involved. I remember what it was like to be shamed and not believed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/18/al-franken-wrote-a-bill-to-help-rape-survivors-like-me-he-cant-lead-on-it-now/

If anybody wants to click through, they'll see the sort of work Franken's been involved in, and how sensitively he and his staff have handled the process of helping this woman frame the bill. She now wants to find a female congressperson to sponsor it instead.

I hope it's an overreaction to the early forms of this story, and she may revise her decision. Or perhaps it would be better if she can find a female senator to sponsor it, and Franken can offer whatever support is necessary, behind the scenes or from the floor. The problem with his involvement is Republican whataboutery. You'd hope a bill like this could find bipartisan agreement, but I doubt it.

It may shed some light on why Franken reacted like he did. The larger picture than his own career is the legislation he wants to pass and the changes he wants to come about - exactly as set out in his long statement. That's integrity.

I don't think any number of videos or pics of Tweeden cavorting onstage are likely to make Abby Honold feel differently, certainly not if Franken were ever to have a hand in relying on them as some sort of "defense" - especially in view of her own experience of the attempts to "throw me and my reputation under the bus". Or maybe she'll realize that this is more or less what's happened to Franken as her ally and change her mind.

What probably won't help change her mind is targeting somebody who comes forward with an allegation for her past behavior, however raunchy, given what she says above. Or maybe she'll join some here in resenting Tweeden for making false allegations, but that could be a slippery slope and she may not be able or willing to go there.

These are the stakes. This whole operation hasn't just targeted Franken, it's targeted the current wave of revulsion at revelations about how (especially powerful) men sometimes conduct themselves.

That's why I think Franken's reacted as he has, and why he's right to do so.

I might have made the above an OP, but I think we've had quite enough OPs about all this recently.

[LisaL]

26. If she wants another lawmaker to sponsor the bill, she will have to find another lawmaker to sponsor

the bill. I fail to see what can be possibly done about that.

[azureblue]

32. Tiger by the tail

That is what Tweeden has right now - she, with Stone's help, launched this attack on Al, with nary a thought if it could come back and bite her. Neither she nor Stone thought that Al would ask for his own investigation......Whoops!..... Now that all the pictures of her groping a musician on stage, her deal with Sinclair broadcasting have come to light, couple with Al's apology, which she accepted (even though it is more like "I didn't remember it this way but I'm sorry you feel hurt"apology) now Stone and Tweeden woke to the fact that if there is an investigation, she will be asked under oath some questions like, "were you put up to this, and if so, then who did it?". And the GOP does not want their operatives exposed. I my bet is the GOP will be working to bury this story as deep as they can, since more and more evidence comes out that she is much less than clean and she got paid for doing this..

[Denzil_DC]

33. Well, meanwhile, unfortunately, all I can find on Google

Last edited Sun Nov 19, 2017, 04:17 PM - Edit history (1)

with a search for "Franken" or "Tweedie" are pages and pages of the original reports.

I really don't know how much traction these onstage videos etc. are going to get, and I have a feeling they alone may not the gotcha that a number of posters here assume they are. People tend to get bored with a story quite quickly, and it takes a lot to get some folks to look at things anew. The raunchiness portrayed may eventually serve as clickbait, but no major outlet beyond Twitter (no doubt Facebook too, though I don't go there), DU and Kos has picked this up yet as far as I've seen.

I hope any plot, as you say, is revealed and discredits whoever's behind it (and/or Tweeden herself in terms of motivation, if that's how it pans out). Those who hate Franken will continue to hate him and no doubt bring all this up years from now no matter how it's debunked because that's how they roll. I don't think they can be reached. The priority is to reach those who may be persuadable and not blow this all up out of proportion any more than's already happened.

[burrowowl]

12. K&R

[betsuni]

13. K&R

[cwydro]

20. K and r.

[rzemanfl]

29. 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003, 2003.

Ratfucking, including the bullshit kiss story.

Fuck. This. Shit.

[mainer]

35. With a different actress. This is an old skit.

He didn’t write it just for Leeann, as she claims.

[LisaL]

36. Right. He was doing the same skit with a different actress in 2003.

So it wasn't specifically written for Leeann, because Franken was after something with her.

[rzemanfl]

38. That's right. It was a three year old skit he wrote in anticipation of getting his tongue

in Leeann's mouth.

[Iggo]

41. Thank you for not claiming she was lying because she showed her boobs in a men's magazine.

I'm about sick of that shit.

[tammywammy]

42. Here's Franken talking about the skit in 2005

Mr. FRANKEN: Yeah. That's a good question. I mean, no, I don't. I--you know, it is really like a Bob Hope kind of show that we do. Like Traylor Howard who is on "Monk"--and I were the emcees, and we'd go out and do--you know, my first joke is, `Anybody here from out of town?' Am I--you know, and then--it was just like--you know, this was my sixth USO tour, my third time here in Iraq. Traylor, however, is a virgin. And they go, `Whoo, whoo.' And she goes, `That's right. It's my first tour.' And I go, `That's what I meant, and I'm going to have to walk you through this, Traylor. First of all, watch out for the Army chow. So far I've had five MREs and none of them seem to have an exit strategy.' So it's very Bob Hope, and then we do this thing where, you know, I have written up this audition piece for me for "Monk," 'cause she's--'cause I want to be on the show, and it's all an excuse to kiss her. And then I kiss her and the guys, like yell, and she says, `Wait a minute. If I were going to kiss anybody here, it'd be one of these brave men.' And everyone goes, `Whoo, whoo,' and then she goes, `Or women.' And then they actually get louder. And then we pick a guy from the audience and he ends up kissing her. You know, that kind of thing.

https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5071269

He must have made changes to the basic script to accommodate whomever he was traveling with.

[LisaL]

43. I don't think he even made changes. It sounds like exact same skit was just repeated with different

actresses playing the role. Certainly not written for Leeann specifically.