Gillibrand to donate money from Franken’s PAC

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is planning to donate the money she has received from Sen. Al Franken’s PAC after an accusation of sexual misconduct against the Minnesota Democrat.

Gillibrand is planning to donate the $12,500 she’s received from the political action group to Protect our Defenders, a group dedicated to ending the “epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military.”

“In light of today’s news about Senator Franken, Senator Gillibrand will be donating all the donations her campaign has received from his PAC ($12,500 over the course of her career) to Protect our Defenders who she stood with at her Military Justice Improvement Act press conference earlier today,” Gillibrand’s senior adviser, Glen Caplin, said in a statement.

Gillibrand said earlier Thursday she believes the woman who accused Franken Thursday of groping and kissing her without her consent during a USO tour in 2006.

In a tweet, Gillibrand said the allegations against Franken were “deeply concerning” and called for an ethics investigation into his behavior.

The allegations against Sen. Franken are deeply concerning. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and should not be tolerated anywhere in our society. There is nothing funny about it and there is no excuse for it. The Ethics Committee deserves answers from him.

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) November 16, 2017

Gillibrand, along with Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), one day earlier introduced legislation that would overhaul policies to combat and report complaints of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.

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The Member and Employee Training and Oversight On Congress (ME TOO Congress) Act would require sexual harassment awareness training and would reform the process for staffers to file complaints.

Gillibrand told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday that there is a “serious sexual harassment problem in Congress.”

“And too many congressional offices are not taking this problem seriously at all,” she said.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) also plans to donate the $30,000 she has received from Franken’s PAC. She will give the money she has received in the last three election cycles to a Missouri-based charity.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), along with several other lawmakers, have called for an ethics investigation into Franken’s behavior since the allegation surfaced.

Franken on Thursday apologized for his actions and called for an ethics investigation into his own behavior.