The woman who accused Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., of sexual misconduct accepts his apology and said she is not looking for him to resign.
Leeann Tweeden detailed her accusations in a story for KABC, a Los Angeles radio station where she works as a news anchor, Thursday morning.
Franken issued a short statement after the story gained national traction, and later put out a longer one in which he apologized and said he was wrong to pose for a photo with his hands on Tweeden's chest as she slept on a C-17 cargo plane.
Tweeden held a press conference Thursday afternoon and spoke more about the allegations.
"The apology, sure, I accept it. People make mistakes, of course he knew he made a mistake. I do accept that apology," she said. "The ethics investigation, if that's what [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell wants to do, that's on them. I'm not calling for that. If that's what he wants to do, OK. That's up to them."
McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both called on the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the claims against Franken.
Tweeden said the incident occurred during a 2006 USO Tour in the Middle East. During Thursday's press conference, she said Franken saw her and her husband a few years later at a gala and he tried to initiate a conversation with her.
"He walked up to me, found me in a room, and said hello to me and I was very cold to him," she said. "He found me — with my back to him — and said hello. I turned around and walked away from him.
"He had a chance to apologize to me then. He knew exactly what he did to me then, that picture was out there. He had a chance to apologize to me, I wasn't holding my breath."
Tweeden said what happened to her as she slept on the military plane was not funny, which Franken said was his intention at the time of the incident.
"Nothing like that is ever funny," she said. "Is it funny if he does that to your sister or your daughter or your wife?"
Tweeden has worked as a model, television personality, and has appeared in men's magazines. Franken began serving in the Senate in 2009 after a lengthy comedy career.
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