Back on Capitol Hill for the first time since facing accusations of sexual misconduct towards women, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) told reporters he has 'let a lot of people down,' as he pledged to regain their trust, indicating he has no plans to resign his seat in the U.S. Senate.
"I know that I have let a lot of people down, the people of Minnesota, my colleagues, my staff," Franken said to a group of reporters waiting outside of his U.S. Senate office, eleven days after being accused of inappropriate behavior by a woman who was on a USO tour with him in late 2006.
"I just want to again say, I am sorry," Franken said. "I am going to try to learn from my mistakes."
Asked if he agreed with women who accused him of groping them during photographs while he was in the Senate, Franken said he did not, as three women have said he grabbed their butts.
"I am embarrassed, I feel ashamed," Franken said. "What I'm going to do is start my job - I'm going to go back to work."
"This has been a shock, and it's been extremely humbling," the Minnesota Democrat added.
Franken expects to face a review by the Senate Ethics Committee, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said the questions are something which deserves that panel's examination.
"We are going to cooperate completely with the ethics investigation," Franken said today.
Franken only took a handful of questions from reporters; the Minnesota Democrat routinely refuses to talk to reporters in the hallways of the Capitol and Senate office buildings.
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