Via The Hill:
A group of seven female former staffers for Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) are defending their ex-boss in a statement as he tries to weather the backlash the day after a woman accused him of sexual misconduct.
“Many of us spent years working for Senator Franken in Minnesota and Washington. In our time working for the senator, he treated us with the utmost respect,” the group said in a Friday statement.
“He valued our work and our opinions and was a champion for women in both the legislation he supported and in promoting women to leadership roles in our offices,” they continued.
The statement was signed Katherine Blauvelt, Alexandra Fetissoff, Jessi Held, Natalie Violin Lehr, Karen Saxe, Charlotte Slaiman and Bethany Snider.
The statement comes a day after radio host Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of aggressively kissing her and of groping her without her consent while she was asleep, providing a photo as evidence.