Manchin: Franken Should Not Resign, Democrats Rushed to Push Him Out – By Gabrielle Levy (usnews.com) / Dec 18 2017
Some Democrats say they and their colleagues were too hasty in pushing Sen. Al Franken to resign following allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, even as the fallout continues from a wave of accusations.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Franken should reverse his decision to resign and called it “atrocious” the way Democratic senators piled on the Minnesota Democrat earlier this month, calling for him to step down after a former aide to a different Democratic congressman accused Franken of trying to forcibly kiss her after her boss appeared on his radio show in 2006.
“What they did to Al was atrocious, the Democrats,” Manchin told Politico in an interview for a podcast to be released Tuesday.
Manchin also excoriated his colleagues for watching Franken’s resignation speech on the Senate floor, embracing him even as they shoved him out the door.
“The most hypocritical thing I’ve ever seen done to a human being – and then have enough guts to sit on the floor, watch him give his speech and go over and hug him? That’s hypocrisy at the highest level I’ve ever seen in my life. Made me sick,” Manchin said.
Manchin said Franken should have been given the benefit of the doubt until an Ethics Committee investigation could be completed.
“Here’s a man, that all he said [was], ‘Take me through the Ethics Committee. I will live by whatever decision and I will walk away thinking about this opportunity I’ve had while I was here,” Manchin said. “But you find out if I’m a predator.'”
“I hope they have enough guts … and enough conscience and enough heart to say, ‘Al, we made a mistake asking prematurely for you to leave,'” he said.
Franken has been working with Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who was named by Gov. Mark Dayton to replace Franken if he resigns, as expected, sometime in January. She said she plans to run for re-election in a special election in November to serve out the final two years of Franken’s term.
Manchin was one of a handful of Senate Democrats who never issued a statement calling for Franken to resign, but sources told Politico that at least three other senators who did call for him to step down now have misgivings, including Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., and two others who said they felt pressured to act quickly as their female colleagues began to call for him to step down in rapid succession.
The backpedaling comes as the list of those who have been credibly accused of sexually inappropriate behavior has forced two other lawmakers – Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Trent Franks, R-Ariz., to leave Congress this month.
But two others – Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas., and Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev., have both so far resisted calls to resign, instead announcing they would cancel plans to run for re-election next fall.
“I want to state clearly again that I deny the allegations in question. I am committed to fully cooperating with the House Ethics Committee and I look forward to clearing my name,” Kihuen, a freshman lawmaker who has been accused by two women of repeatedly making unwanted comments and come-ons, said in a statement Saturday, a day after the House Ethics Committee said it was opening an investigation into his alleged behavior.
“However, the allegations that have surfaced would be a distraction from a fair and thorough discussion of the issues in a re-election campaign,” he said. Therefore, it is in the best interests of my family and my constituents to complete my term in Congress and not seek re-election.”
Farenthold has said he will reimburse the Treasury the $84,000 in taxpayer funds used to pay a settlement with a former staffer who said she was fired after accusing Farenthold and a top male aide of creating a hostile work environment. He announced last week that he would not seek re-election.
PB/TK – Franken admitted guilt and even called for his own inquiry, but the DEM’s pushing him out is the correct move, if they backtrack it will be destructive plus not to mention Media will have a field day
