Mike Franken, Iowa’s Democrat U.S. Senate nominee, has denied claims from his former campaign manager, who alleged he made “several” unwanted advances toward women, including herself.
Franken — who is 64 years old, married, and has two kids — denied the allegations from his former campaign manager, Kimberley Strope-Boggus, who said in an April police report that the Democrat Senate nominee “grabbed the collar of the vest she was wearing and kissed her on her mouth” before she could “pull away” when they met for drinks at a bar in Des Moines on March 18.
In the police report, Strope-Boggus also described Franken as “old school,” having “1950s interactions with women,” which was “something that he has done to several other women.” Additionally, the bottom of the police report indicated that the “case will be closed as unfounded,” and no further action would be taken.
Franken told the Des Moines Register that he “had a glass of beer,” indicating that it was only one and what Strope-Boggus claimed was “baseless” and “didn’t happen.” The Hawkeye State Democrat indicated that he was also never interviewed by the Des Moines Police Department.
He accused Republicans are “targeting him” in what the Des Moines Register called a “critical” midterm election, where he is facing longtime incumbent Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). In fact, in the “critical” election cycle, the most recent poll from the outlet found he had an eight-point advantage over Franken, with support from 47 percent of Iowans compared to Franken’s 39 percent.
“I’m surprised that they would come after a person like myself,” he said, appearing to make himself look untouchable by the former campaign managers’ accusations. “But that’s fine, you know. That’s expected, I guess. And you know, I’m not at all surprised in many respects.”
Interestingly enough, Franken, at the campaign event, was also supposed to be joined by Democrat Liz Mathis, running against Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) in the Second Congressional District, and Democrat Christina Bohannan running against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) in the First Congressional District.
Franken’s campaign claimed that the other Democrats had a “scheduling conflict.”
Bohannan’s campaign has yet to make a public statement on Franken’s allegations or why she missed the events. However, Mathis’ claimed she had “another engagement” that “bumped” Franken. She added that “investigators found that no criminal act occurred, and the case was closed after being deemed unfounded by police.”
Hinson, whom Mathis is running against, quickly denounced Franken and encouraged the Democrat to do the same instead of conveniently using a “scheduling conflict” not to be seen publicly with Senate hopeful.
“Sexual assault is always unacceptable, and the allegations against Admiral Mike Franken are deeply troubling,” Hinson said. “A ‘scheduling conflict’ is no substitute for denouncing sexual assault allegations, and State Senator Liz Mathis must disavow Mike Franken immediately.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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