Fellow Democrats call on Senator Al Franken to resign over sexual misconduct claims

More than a quarter of Democrats in the US Senate on Wednesday called for fellow party member Al Franken, the Senator from Minnesota, to resign after new allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Franken, who had said he planned to remain in office, said on Twitter he would make an announcement on Thursday. He offered no further details.

The calls from the 14 senators marked the first time that Franken’s Democratic colleagues had publicly pressed for him to step down since the allegations began surfacing nearly three weeks ago. They were joined by the party’s chairman, Tom Perez.

“I’ve struggled with this decision because he’s been a good senator and I consider him a friend,” Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, one of nine female Democratic senators calling for Franken’s resignation, wrote on Twitter. “But that cannot excuse his behaviour and his mistreatment of women.”

Franken is one of several prominent American men in politics, media and entertainment to be accused in recent months of sexual harassment and misconduct.

News website Politico reported on Wednesday that a congressional aide said Franken had tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006, before he was first elected as a senator. Franken denied the latest allegations, Politico said.