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Republican Party wants Durbin, Duckworth to give away Franken’s cash

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Illinois

* ILGOP…

Durbin and Duckworth Should Immediately Give Away Money Received From Al Franken
Following allegations and a photograph of his sexual misconduct, Durbin and Duckworth have yet to take action on campaign cash from Franken

“Calls for an investigation are not enough. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth should put their money where their mouth is and immediately give away the dirty money they’ve received from Al Franken. Some of their Democratic peers in the Senate have already taken action and given away the campaign contributions. It’s time for Durbin and Duckworth to do the same.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot

Following reports on Thursday of sexual harassment levied against U.S. Senator Al Franken, Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have not taken any definitive action to distance themselves from his alleged actions.

Early Thursday, allegations surfaced that Al Franken kissed and groped a woman without consent in 2006. Released along with Leeann Tweeden’s allegations was a photograph of Franken groping Tweeden as she slept.

Since the allegations surfaced, numerous Democrats have spoken out, denouncing Franken and giving away campaign cash received from Franken to charitable organizations.

Durbin and Duckworth, though tweeting their support for an ethics investigation, have yet to give away the money they received from Franken, unlike their counterpart in Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin. Durbin and Duckworth have received $5,000 and $21,000 in campaign contributions from Franken, respectively.

The Illinois Republican Party is calling on Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to follow the example of their peers and immediately give away the campaign cash they received from Al Franken.

* Press releases sent by the two Senators…

U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement:

There is never an excuse for this behavior—ever. What Senator Franken did was wrong, and it should be referred to the Ethics Committee for review.

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement on Senator Al Franken:

“These types of actions are simply unacceptable and should be reviewed by the Ethics Committee. Women across America should be able to feel safe in their workplace, and they deserve our support when coming forward with allegations of misconduct.”

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 9:59 am

Comments

Said as they take Rauners blood money

Comment by Rogue Roni Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:00 am
Did anyone ask them to return contributions from Hastert?

Comment by Anon Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:06 am
Did I miss their condemnation of trump for his on tape comments about groping a women?

I call hypocrisy

at least Franken admires it was wrong and didn’t call it lback stage Tomfoolery

Comment by Publius Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:08 am
Oh please…
IlGOP could be a little more hypocritical and sanctimonious if the they really put their back into it.

Comment by Galena Guy Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:10 am
Not all types of misconduct are the same. The allegations against Franken are barely sexual; he kissed a woman as part of a rehearsal, which she (reluctantly) agreed to, and then took a photo make a provocative gesture with her when she was asleep. The photo is definitely bad behavior, it was disrespectful and either mean spirited or just thoughtless, he shouldn’t have done it, but to me it doesn’t suggest an overall predatory nature. Making him a pariah is premature. More bad behavior might come out over through an investigation, at which point I’ll revise my stance, but I’m not convinced yet. On another note, it is hilarious to me that the GOP, which is currently headed by the Sexual Predator in Chief, is making these hits.

Comment by Perrid Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:16 am
ILGOP has become an Incredibly Lame Goofily Oblivious Parody

Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:17 am
You have to be a stone-cold fool to try to make partisan hay out of the flood of sexual harassment charges. There are going to be plenty more to come, swamping officials from both parties.

You going to keep this up, ILGOP, when even more GOP officials are named? For crying out loud, are you aware of who the president is?

If you’ve worked for any amount of time in DC, you know there’s a very strong frat house culture that many partake in. Dolts and mediocrities with a nickel’s worth of power strut the town like they’re Julius Caesar and conveniently forget the family back home.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:22 am
Hold this thought
Will ILGOPies ask all the GOPies to withGovJUnk cash to give back his $$$ when the shoe drops?

Comment by Annonin' Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:24 am
Seems kind of like a no-brainer just to give it back or to some group.

Comment by OneMan Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:35 am
Franken Was A Comedian. USO Show? Getting Almost Stupid. What About Trump?

Comment by Shake Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:44 am
So sick of all these holier than thou Republicans

Comment by Honeybadger Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:59 am
Will the ILGOP give back any Trump money?

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 10:59 am
Is DeGroot even competent?

Comment by jingleheimer schmidt used to be my last name...couldn't deal with the shouting Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 11:13 am
Franken admitted he was wrong and he apologized — he didn’t go all Bruce Rauner by making a statement like “I will bury her. I will make her radioactive. She will never get another job anywhere, ever. I will bankrupt her with legal fees. I don’t know if she has a family or not, but if she does, she better think twice about this.”

Comment by We'll See Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 11:33 am
It feels like you can get more to the point by arguing over whether someone committing misdeeds means you should return/give away their money versus playing an endless whataboutism game which results in learning that everyone is a hypocrite and then shrugging.

Is it intuitive to people that it is morally wrong to keep money given to you by someone that you later learned did something wrong at some point in his life? The question is earnest–I’m honestly surprised that it even comes up in any context other than a cheap political smear because campaigns have to win the #content war.

Comment by Chris Widger Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 11:45 am
==“I will bury her. I will make her radioactive. She will never get another job anywhere, ever. I will bankrupt her with legal fees. I don’t know if she has a family or not, but if she does, she better think twice about this.”==

Didn’t a federal judge throw out that part of the lawsuit? And isn’t it weird to use someone else’s legal filing as evidence of what a person did? Isn’t that, like, the least unbiased source available? And isn’t it irresponsible to quote allegations like they definitely happened? I know we live in a post-truth society, but let’s at least try, lest we become those we denounce.

Comment by Chris Widger Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 11:47 am
- Chris Widger -
Okay, you got me with solid points. What I meant to convey was the Franken admitted to a serious mistake - he owned it; that’s something Rauner seems to be completely incapable of.

Comment by We'll See Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 1:04 pm
I think it would be a good political move to give that money to charity. Though I think it’s on Durbin to make the first move seeing as he is the senior Senator and a party whip. It might look weird if Duckworth does it before him.

As a side note, I don’t think Franken deserves a pass because it was “just a joke.” Are these accusations of a similar magnitude of Roy Moore or Weinstien or take your pick? Good lord no, but they’re still sexual harassment and/or assault.

If you’re looking for an interesting read on a more Machiavellian approach to what the Democrats maybe should have done, then fivethirtyeight has an interesting article that I’ll only post here because Dick Durbin is both in national party leadership and because he’s from Illinois:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/democrats-missed-a-chance-to-draw-a-line-in-the-sand-on-sexual-misconduct/

Comment by Chicago_Downstater Friday, Nov 17, 17 @ 1:56 pm