March 29, 2024

Mike Franken Continues to Dismiss Allegations of Unwanted Advances Towards Women

In an interview reported by Politico, Mike Franken, Iowa’s Democrat U.S. Senate nominee, continued to deny the allegations from his former campaign manager that he made unwanted advances toward women, including herself.

Politico reported on Monday that Franken still “denies the incident” that his former campaign manager Kimberley Strope-Boggus accused him of in a police report from April. Franken also said that he has never been accused of unwanted advances by women, even though Strope-Boggus said she is not the only one.

In the interview with Politico, the Hawkeye State Democrat even went as far as to call the attacks on him a “desperate move” and described himself as an advocate for accountability even though Franken has been allowed to call this woman a liar, despite him holding her under an NDA from when she was working for him.

“I am an active supporter of any effort to uncover and disclose assaults of any matter. But this one didn’t happen,” Franken said. “I’m just so disappointed that anything negative has come up about this. Because we’re on all eight cylinders. We’re cruising along … that was just an oddity. That’s no longer part of the picture.”

Franken — who is 64, married, and has two children — was accused by Strope-Boggus, in an unearthed police report, of “grabb[ing] the collar of the vest she was wearing and kiss[ing] her on her mouth” before she could “pull away.”

Strope-Boggus described Franken as “old school” and having “1950s interactions with women,” which was “something that he has done to several other women.”

“I’ve never had this, you know, [in] my 40-year professional history. I’ve never had this before. Never,” Franken said. “Large organizations, small organizations, on ships, on land in the Pentagon, in other offices. Never.”

In a call with reporters last week, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann accused Franken of hiding behind the NDA and “using it as a weapon” because he has been calling his accuser a liar while he is still silencing her under the NDA and called on him to “release the victim from the nondisclosure agreement” to allow her to speak out if she chooses.

Kaufmann also touted a bill Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) cosponsored, Speak Out Act, that the Senate Judiciary Committee recently advanced. The bill guarantees that survivors of sexual assault or harassment can’t be barred from discussing their experiences because of a previously signed nondisclosure agreement.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.

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