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New Al Franken accuser says he grabbed her rear in 2010

Lindsay Menz said Franken grabbed her buttocks while posing for a photo at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010.
Image: Al Franken
In this file photo, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) attends the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee hearing in the Capitol building on July 19, 2017 in Washington.Joe Raedle / Getty Images file

A new woman has come forward with an allegation against Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., days after a radio host accused the lawmaker of forcibly kissing and groping her more than a decade ago.

Lindsay Menz, 33, told CNN in an interview that Franken grabbed her buttocks when they posed for a photo together in 2010. The accusation was first reported by CNN. Menz also appears to have tweeted about the encounter several days ago.

Menz said she met Franken at the Minnesota State Fair seven years ago with her husband and father and asked for a photo with the lawmaker.

While posing for the photo she said Franken "pulled me in really close, like awkward close, and as my husband took the picture, he put his hand full-fledged on my rear."

"It was wrapped tightly around my butt cheek," she added.

Menz's accusation is the first levied against Franken alleged to have occurred when he was an elected official. Representatives for Franken did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to CNN, Franken said he felt "badly," but he did not remember posing for the photo with Menz.

"I take thousands of photos at the state fair surrounded by hundreds of people, and I certainly don't remember taking this picture," Franken told CNN on Sunday. "I feel badly that Ms. Menz came away from our interaction feeling disrespected."

Last week, Leeann Tweeden, a radio news anchor in Los Angeles, accused Franken of forcibly kissing her and groping her breast while she was sleeping in 2006, before he became a lawmaker, at a USO show for service members.

Several of Franken's colleagues have called for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation following Tweeden's accusations. Franken said he would fully cooperate with the committee.

Menz reached out to CNN after Tweeden went public, she said.

"It wasn't around my waist. It wasn't around my hip or side. It was definitely on my butt," she told CNN, adding that it lasted a few seconds. "I was like, oh my God, what's happening."

Menz, who now lives in Texas, said she attended the fair because her father's business sponsored a local radio booth and she spoke with various lawmakers and celebrities and posed for photos.

She told CNN she walked away after the photo op and did not say anything to Franken. She said she told her husband soon after: "He totally grabbed my butt." Menz said she also told her father.

"I felt gross. It'd be like being walking through the mall and some random person grabbing your butt," she said. "You just feel gross. Like ew, I want to wash that off of me."