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Showing posts with label sexual harrassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual harrassment. Show all posts
Female staffers at NBC News are complaining they felt under huge pressure to sign the “women’s letter” defending Tom Brokaw against sexual harassment allegations.
After former colleague Linda Vester claimed he “groped and assaulted” her in the ’90s, plus an anonymous assistant alleged he had made unwanted advances, more than 115 women signed the letter hailing the veteran anchor as “a man of tremendous decency and integrity.”
Big names backing Brokaw include Rachel Maddow, Mika Brzezinski, Andrea Mitchell and Maria Shriver. Brokaw angrily denied Vester’s claims, likening them to “a drive by shooting.”
One NBC News staffer said, “We felt forced to sign the letter supporting Brokaw. We had no choice, particularly the lower level staffers. The letter was being handed around the office and the unspoken threat was that if your name was not on it, there would be some repercussion down the road. Execs are watching to see who signed and who didn’t. This was all about coming out in force to protect NBC’s golden boy; the network’s reputation is tied to Brokaw . . . If more women come forward, that’s a big problem.”
Another insider said the powerful names on the letter could intimidate other victims. “When you have over 100 women like Andrea Mitchell signing a letter of support without knowing the facts, it’s pretty scary . . . The letter will have a chilling effect on other women coming forward.”
An NBC News rep said, “The letter is a purely grass-roots effort, led by women outside of the company who are motivated by their own support for Tom Brokaw . . . Management has played absolutely no role whatsoever.”
Except the letter was led by Goldman exec Liz Bowyer — who also happens to be a producer for Brokaw’s NBC doc unit and has worked on two of his books.
Meanwhile, Megyn Kelly cautioned her Brokaw-supporting colleagues that there could be more to this: “You don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s not in any way to impugn Tom, who I love and who’s been so good to me. Just saying, you don’t know what you don’t know.”
Former FBI Director James Comey had a rough few years near the end of his career.
Comey’s mishandling of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal left him in the doghouse with both Republicans and Democrats. Under his watch, former President Barack Obama was able to obtain illegal wiretaps on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Meanwhile, Russian meddling in our election and in supporting the so-called anti-Trump “resistance” went unchecked.
Now, a shocking new report from the Department of Justice, first uncovered by The Daily Caller, shows that from the top to the bottom, the FBI grew out-of-control during Comey’s tenure.
According to the report, the DoJ’s inspector general sanctioned at least 14 FBI agents and employees for a host of sexual misconduct since 2014 — almost all while under the command of Comey.
“According to the Justice Department inspector general’s enforcement summaries, which [The Daily Caller] reviewed, FBI agents and officials engaged in a variety of improper sexual relationships and harassment throughout the bureau,” The DC reported Sunday. “Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz published at least 14 instances of improper sexual conduct. The latest incident was reported only last week.”
Just before Comey’s arrival in 2014, the inspector general’s office had filed only one sexual misconduct charge against FBI employees over a span of four years. That quickly changed during Comey’s tenure.
“The acts entail inappropriate romantic relationships with a subordinate, outright sexual harassment, favoritism or promotion based on demands for sex, and retaliation against women who rebuffed male employee’s advances,” The Daily Caller reported.
A botched investigation into Hillary’s illegal email server. Illegal wiretapping of the Trump campaign. All while failing to properly investigate terror threats like that of the Florida High School shooter?
Add out-of-control sex scandals to that list as the eternal legacy of James Comey.
If there's any state in the union that is most assuredly "blue," it's California. Outside of a single Republican governor — Arnold Schwarzenegger — and a handful of state and federal legislators in northern and far southern counties, Democrats hold nearly every elected office in the state.
But according to Politico, a burgeoning sexual harassment scandal is roiling the state's Democratic ranks and a series of "scandal-induced resignations" thought to be coming in 2018 are threatening the Democrats' stranglehold on power.
"We’re in unchartered territory here,” Garry South, a veteran Democratic strategist told the political news outlet. “This whole issue has hit a critical mass in a very short time. I’ve never seen anything like it before — and I don’t know where it ends.”
South and others claim that Democrats have suffered from a severe decline in public trust. The Hollywood leftists who have bankrolled Democratic candidates at both the state and federal level are now under scrutiny, as Harvey Weinstein, perhaps chief among the entertainment industry's political powerhouses, is facing dozens of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape allegations — and, quite possibly, an indictment.
The major Democratic players who represent some of California's biggest urban areas can't escape the tarnish. Even Rep. Nancy Pelosi isn't immune, the article claims, because she stalled Rep. John Conyers's resignation, calling Conyers an "American icon" and pleading with him to remain in office, even as more women came forward to accuse Conyers of bizarre — and often sexual — behavior.
The California Assembly is itself embroiled in its own sex scandal. Dozens of women signed a petition to demand accountability from Democratic legislators they claim have sexually harassed aides and staff. They even have their own movement: #WeSaidEnough.
The Assembly plans to hold hours of hearings dedicated to sexual harassment within its ranks when it reconvenes in January, and the State Senate has hired two separate law firms, Politico reports, to handle what leadership believes will be a wave of claims. Nancy Pelosi's daughter, Alexandra, is leading a group of progressive feminists attacking California state Democrats from the left, accusing them of covering up for abusers in their ranks while labeling themselves great protectors of women's rights.
Democrats have yet to see electoral fallout from D.C. and Hollywood scandals, but Politico seems convinced that, at least in California, certain seats are likely to remain vacant or even flip to Republican if state-based scandals make national headlines. Californians prefer Democrats, that's not in doubt, but they may want a change of pace from their regular representation.
At the very least, Politico says, sources close to governor Jerry Brown are concerned his leftist agenda may have stalled indefinitely. With resignations coming weekly and a state legislature pre-occupied with sniffing out harassers in their midst, there will be far fewer environmental regulations and tax hikes passed in the next year.
Charlie Rose was racist for not sexually harassing black women at his workplace, at least that’s what Esquire’s Rebecca Carroll suggested in a recent column.
As one powerful man after another faces allegations of sexual misconduct, we’re still not talking about the ramifications for black women.
REBECCA CARROLL DEC 4, 2017
In 1997, I joined the production team of Charlie Rose’s popular interview show. I was the only black journalist on staff. At the time, there was little to no recognition of what it meant to be black and female in a workplace dominated by white men. Twenty years later, in this watershed moment of examination and reckoning as one powerful white man after another is disgraced following allegations of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault, we’re still not talking about the ramifications for black women—or the broader connection to structural racism in America.
… And while many of us on staff were subject to Charlie’s unsolicited shoulder massages and physical intimidation, as he towered above us at a height over six feet tall, the women Charlie preferred and preyed upon—at least that I witnessed—were white. It was an environment that all but erased me, while simultaneously exploiting me as a black woman. …
In America, the most desirable woman in the room—the most sacred, coveted, enshrined woman—has always been the white woman. …
To be clear, I’m not suggesting it would have been preferable for Charlie to have preyed upon me, too—but rather, his sexualization of white women was a manifestation of gendered power dynamics in the same way that his not sexualizing me was an expression of racialized power dynamics.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., the former “Saturday Night Live” comic who made an improbable journey to become a leading liberal voice in the Senate, announced on Thursday that he will leave office in the coming weeks, after a string of allegations of sexual misconduct and mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers to step down.
"Today I am announcing that in the coming weeks, I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate," Franken said during an emotional speech from the Senate floor.
"I of all people am aware that there is some irony that I am leaving, while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has preyed on underage girls is running for the Senate with the full support of his party,” Franken said, referring to President Donald Trump, who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, and Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama.
"But this decision is not about me, it’s about the people of Minnesota," Franken said.
His announcement comes a day after Democratic women led the charge of35 Democratic senators who called on their embattled colleague to step down, and three days after Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who was also accused of sexual misconduct, announced he was resigning following calls from leaders in his own party to quit.
As Franken spoke, many of the Democratic women senators who said it was time for the lawmaker to go — including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin — looked on, appearing visibly upset.
Just a day earlier, it was Gillibrand's Facebook post that set off a cascade of other calls for his resignation, first by her female colleagues, and later, by senators of all genders across both parties.
"Enough is enough," Gillibrand wrote of the allegations against Franken in her Facebook post. "The women who have come forward are brave and I believe them."
In November, Franken, a two-term senator was swept up in the fast-moving avalanche of sexual misconduct and harassment allegations that have led to high-profile firings and resignations of a number of powerful men in Hollywood and the media. Minnesota's Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, has the power to appoint Franken's replacement, who would serve until the next statewide general election in November 2018.
Leeann Tweeden, a Los Angeles radio news anchor, was the first woman to come forward in mid-November. She claimed that during a 2006 USO tour Franken — who was not yet elected to the Senate — forcibly kissed her while they rehearsed a skit together and later groped her on a plane. An alarming photograph backed up her accusation.
Comedian Al Franken and Leeann Tweeden during a USO Tour in 2006. via KABC
After Tweeden told her story, several more women come forward to allege that Franken had groped them in public settings, prompting Franken to issue an apology as well as support a Senate Ethics Committee inquiry into his behavior.
"I’ve learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many. Some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that," he said.
But a Politico report published Wednesday morning marked the beginning of the end for Franken's colleagues. In it, a former congressional aide to the senator said he tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006, saying, "It's my right as an entertainer." Franken forcefully denied the account, which has not been verified by NBC News, but by the end of the day, 35 senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, had issued statements calling for his ouster.
Democratic strategists told NBC News that by pushing Franken to resign, Democrats believed they could regain the moral high ground and go after Moore with a clean slate — drawing a sharper contrast with Republicans. Moore has been accused of sexual assault and pursuing girls as young as 14, allegations that he has denied. Trump, who endorsed Moore and said the former Alabama state judge would "do very well" in the Senate, has also denied the number of allegations against him, with the White House maintaining in October that the women who have accused the president of sexual misconduct are liars.
From parodies to politics
Franken was elected to the Senate in 2008 in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate, one that triggered a recount and was eventually decided by the Minnesota Supreme Court. He won by 312 votes.
He was re-elected to the Senate in 2014, winning 53 percent of the vote.
“It’s the story of a Midwestern Jewish boy of humble roots (the first in his family to own a pasta maker) who, after a thirty-five-year career in comedy, moved back home to challenge an incumbent senator," Franken wrote in his 2017 political memoir "Al Franken, Giant of the Senate."
Al Franken speaks to supporters at his election night headquarters in St Paul, Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008. Craig Lassig / EPA file
"It’s the story of how, after spending a lifetime learning to be funny, I learned how not to be funny.”
Before entering the Senate, he hosted "The Al Franken Show" on Air America, the now-defunct liberal talk-radio network, from 2004 until 2007, when he announced he would run for office.
His career began as one of the early stars of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975.
He was born in New York City in 1951 but grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, after his parents relocated there when he was 4. Franken began performing stand-up routines in Minneapolis clubs while he was in high school.
He graduated from Harvard in 1973, where he met his wife, Franni, with whom he has two kids. After Franken graduated, he signed on with SNL.
The first sketch he helped write lampooned President Gerald Ford, suggesting a new campaign slogan: "If he’s so dumb, why is he President?"
Al Franken, left, performs on "Saturday Night Live" in 1977. NBC / NBC via Getty Images
On SNL, Franken devised several impersonations, including TV preacher Pat Robertson and former Sen. Paul Tsongas.
He is perhaps best known for his SNL character Stuart Smalley, a satirical parody of a self-help guru who hosted “Daily Affirmation With Stuart Smalley," which later became the subject of a film.
Smalley was best known for his catchphrase: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."
Franken told The New York Times Magazine that the character was borne out of going through a 12-step program with his wife during her battle with alcoholism.
“I was trying to explain recovery through a character,” Franken told the magazine. “He is a character that, at first blush, looks like kind of an idiot, but actually a lot of the stuff he’s trying to talk about is true.”
“I’m trying to express that you can learn things from people who you think aren’t smarter than you,” he added. “I’m embarrassed by how late in life I learned that.”
Franken left SNL in 1995 after being passed over for the Weekend Update anchor slot, which was given to Norm Macdonald.
Franken’s comedy ambitions, however, began in the second grade. He told People Magazine in a 1992 profile that he wrote what amounted to his first comedy sketch after he watched the girls in his second-grade class perform an “insipid” version of “I’m a Little Teapot.”
“I sat down and wrote a scathing parody,” he told the magazine. “I got the other boys together, and we dressed in drag [and staged it]. The girls were in tears.”
His political interests developed at that time, too.
He watched the 1960 conventions with his dad, Joe, who was a salesman and supported the Republican presidential candidate, Richard Nixon, he told People. Phoebe, his mother, who was a real estate agent, supported the Democrat, John F. Kennedy. At that young age, he told People, he sided with his father, but eventually sided with Democrats.
Franken's political profile only grew after President Donald Trump's historic election.
He sat on three Senate committees, including the powerful Judiciary Committee that is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which helped elevate his profile among progressives by grilling Trump's nominees and castigating the president.
He called Trump's inauguration "perhaps the most depressing moment I've had since I entered politics, though that record has been repeatedly surpassed since Jan. 20," according to Rolling Stone.
He sparred with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, with his interactions often drawing praise from progressives and ire from conservatives — and occasionally going viral on social media.
"I had a career in identifying absurdity, and I know it when I see it and it makes me question your judgment," he told Neil Gorsuch, the president's Supreme Court pick, during his confirmation hearing.
