Franken has agreed to talk with a handful... (Associated Press) 
 
 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Sen. Al Franken broke his silence Sunday after being swept into a nationwide tide of sexual harassment allegations, saying he feels "embarrassed and ashamed" but looks forward to returning to work on Monday to gradually regain voters' trust. Franken said he hopes his own experiences, and the ethics investigation he has called into his own behavior, will eventually make “a positive contribution to the conversation, so I can be a better public servant and a better man.” 
 
 Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., talks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The first woman to come forward was Los Angeles radio news anchor Leeann Tweeden, who earlier this month released a photograph of the former comedian grinning while reaching out as if to grope her as she slept on a military aircraft during a USO tour in 2006. Franken, who said he has posed for “tens of thousands of photos” over the years, says he does not remember any that included his hand sliding down to cup women’s backsides, as several have alleged. “I don’t remember these photographs, I don’t,” he said. “This is not something I would intentionally do.” 
 
 Franken said he has spent the past week “thinking about how that could happen and I just recognize that I need to be more careful and a lot more sensitive in these situations.” 
 
 Asked whether he expects any other women to step forward with similar groping allegations, Franken said: “If you had asked me two weeks ago, ‘Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect?’ I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surprise ... … I certainly hope not.” 
 
 Franken has been communicating with his constituents and the media mainly through terse written statements since Nov. 16, when Tweeden, a Los Angeles radio broadcaster, accused him of forcibly kissing her during a 2006 holiday USO war zone tour. Lindsay Menz told CNN that Franken grabbed her buttocks while they posed for a photo at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010 — an encounter she documented on social media at the time. Two other women, speaking anonymously to The Huffington Post, said this week that Franken grabbed their buttocks during political events in 2007 and 2008, during his first campaign for Senate. Another said Franken cupped her backside with his hand and suggested the two of them visit the bathroom together at a Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis in 2008. I hug people,” Franken said. Franken faces a Senate ethics investigation — which he welcomed in the wake of Tweeden's allegation — though it's unclear when that review may begin. Dozens of women who've worked with Franken, including former Senate staffers and women who worked with him on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," signed statements supporting Franken following Tweeden's allegations.
– Minnesota Sen. Al Franken broke his silence Sunday after being swept into a nationwide tide of sexual harassment allegations, saying he feels "embarrassed and ashamed" but looks forward to returning to work on Monday to gradually regain voters' trust. Franken spoke to the Minneapolis Star Tribune after largely being silent since four women publicly accused him of misconduct. Franken told the newspaper he doesn't remember the photographs but that such behavior is "not something I would intentionally do." Three of them said the Democrat grabbed their buttocks while taking photos with them during campaign events. Franken has walked a careful line in his response to the allegations. He earlier apologized to any woman who felt disrespected from their encounters, the AP reports. On Sunday, he said he has posed for "tens of thousands of photos" over the years and doesn't remember any that ended with his hand sliding down to cup women's backsides. "I don't remember these photographs, I don't," he said. "This is not something I would intentionally do." Asked whether he expected any other women to step forward with similar allegations, Franken said, "If you had asked me two weeks ago, 'Would any woman say I had treated her with disrespect?' I would have said no. So this has just caught me by surprise…I certainly hope not." Franken faces a Senate ethics investigation—which he welcomed in the wake of his first accuser going public—though it's unclear when that review may begin.