By Lindsey Ellefson and Jacob Krol
CNN
As the number of sexual harassment allegations against powerful men have grown over the past few weeks, they’ve spread from Hollywood to Washington, D.C., where Sen. Al Franken is one of the latest to be accused. According to Rep. Ted Deutch, this is a “moment of reckoning.”
In a Friday morning appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Deutch told anchor John Berman that he found the recently released photo of Franken appearing to grab the breasts of a sleeping woman “absolutely revolting.”
Franken issued two apologies when the photo — and an account of an alleged forced kiss — was released by Leeann Tweeden on Thursday. Many of his congressional colleagues have called for a Senate ethics investigation, to which Franken has agreed.
Deutch, D-Florida, is the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee. He explained how the investigation will progress in the Senate.
“I assume what they will do is they will start with that photo, which is absolutely revolting. They’ll then want to understand. They’ll investigate further what happened in connection with that episode. They’ll spend time trying to figure out if there are other episodes.”
After explaining that the committee will ultimately decide what to do with his fellow Democrat, Deutch added, “It’s important to focus on what’s going to happen next in this case, but this is so much more than just Senator Franken and all of these others.”
He continued, “It’s not just Congress and we need to do more … But it’s every workplace in America. This is a moment of reckoning in this country. It’s a really important conversation we need to have.”
In recent weeks, powerful figures such as Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, and many others have been publicly accused of sexual harassment and assault, prompting a national conversation.
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