KSTP-TV sat down with Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “Senator Amy Klobuchar said she didn’t publicly call for Al Franken to resign because she wanted to give her fellow Democrat and Minnesota Senate colleague the chance to reach that decision on his own. But Klobuchar said she spoke with Franken Wednesday, when the latest of the multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him became public, and stressed it would be hard for him to continue in his position. ‘We just talked about how hard it was going to be for him to continue to serve,’ Klobuchar told KSTP’s Tom Hauser Thursday, following Franken’s resignation announcement on the Senate floor. ‘His response was that he needed to talk to his family — (his wife) Franni — and I truly respected that.’”
How the women who accused Franken reacted to his speech: In The Hill, Josh Delk says, “Several women who accused Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) of sexual misconduct say they were not satisfied by his resignation speech Thursday, with some calling it disappointing and ‘hypocritical.’ Los Angeles morning radio host Leeann Tweeden, who first accused Franken of groping her and shared a picture of the 2006 USO tour incident on Twitter, suggested that Franken was defensive in his speech made from the Senate floor early Thursday. ‘I’m not celebrating his resignation. It’s a lose-lose situation,’ Tweeden told CNN. ‘I’m not celebrating his resignation, but we also can’t tolerate hypocrisy. We can’t have our leaders saying one thing and doing another.’”
Pivot to Trump, says The Nation’s Joan Walsh: “I would like to see Franken’s departure be not just another #MeToo moment but a long-delayed #TrumpToo moment. Now that Franken has left the building, why can’t the Democratic senators who’ve asked him to resign—an astonishing 35 out of 48 caucus members—now commit to holding hearings on Trump’s many sexual-abuse accusations? A Quinnipiac poll out Wednesday shows that 70 percent of Americans polled say they want Congress to investigate the allegations against Trump; … I know: Democrats are in the minority, in both houses of Congress. Such hearings would hold limited power. But even in the minority, ranking congressional Democrats can still get congressional hearing rooms and media attention. They won’t have subpoena power, but they don’t need subpoena power to call Trump’s victims to testify.”
So what happens now if Roy Moore wins, asks Mary Bruce and Mariam Khan at ABC News: “In conversations with ABC News, a number of Republicans today shied away from the comparison between Franken and [Alabama Senate candidate Roy] Moore, who both face multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Some suggested to ABC News that if Moore wins, he should be dealt with by the Senate Ethics Committee, not pushed out. ‘[Moore has] denied the allegations, he deserves due process,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. ‘If he gets elected, he’ll get due process. If he wants to resign, that’s up to him. I want him to step aside. I wish he were not our nominee. I think if he wins, he’s the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats.’”
In other news, the lawsuit over a Minneapolis council election was dismissed. Says the Strib’s Adam Belz: “A Hennepin County judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by candidate Mohamud Noor contesting his narrow Election Day defeat by Minneapolis Council Member Abdi Warsame. Warsame won by 239 votes and Noor paid a $7,000 deposit for a discretionary recount, which he called off after the ballots in three precincts showed little change from the initial results.”
Removed. The Pioneer Press’ Tad Vezner writes: “The current Vulcanus Rex — the villain of the St. Paul Winter Carnival — has been removed from the organization after an investigation into a complaint of misconduct made by a woman against him. The St. Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation said in a statement that they had received a complaint about the conduct of David W. Breen, this year’s Vulcanus Rex, the leader of the Winter Carnival’s Vulcans. The foundation said in a written statement Wednesday that it had notified the Imperial Order of Fire and Brimstone Ltd. — the independent organization that runs the Vulcans — who then ‘conducted an investigation and has since removed Breen from any active role.’”
A tragic story out of Fergus Falls. Writes the Strib: “Murder-suicide is suspected in the deaths of a recently divorced couple in Fergus Falls, Minn., authorities said Thursday. Sarah Cheshire, 41, and Ryan Cheshire, also 41, were found dead of gunshot wounds in Ryan’s apartment late Wednesday. The two, who had lived separately since a recent divorce, were prominent attorneys in the area, according to authorities and local media outlets. Police said it appears that Ryan Cheshire fatally shot his ex-wife, then himself.”
Flying deer, just in time for Christmas. The Forum’s Ross Torgerson writes: “Graphic dash-cam video released by the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department shows the moment a deer was struck by an oncoming vehicle, a collision that launched the animal onto the windshield of a passing deputy. According to a post on the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page: ‘On Wednesday night, Dec. 6, a deputy was slightly injured after becoming involved in a “secondary deer collision.”’”
And finally, the 1880s called; they want their criminals back. Reports the Forum News Service: “Two Park Rapids, Minn. men have been charged with felonies after allegedly selling cattle they did not own. Bret Ricardo Glatzmaier, 49, of rural Park Rapids has been charged in Becker County District Court with two felony counts of rustling and cattle theft, and Christopher Charles Strehlow, 31, of Park Rapids has been charged with one felony count of rustling and cattle theft.”
