Dayton: Ethics committee should decide Franken's future
Gov. Mark Dayton said he has spoken to U.S. Sen. Al Franken about allegations of sexual misconduct that have threatened the Minnesota Democrat's political career.
Dayton said in an interview with MPR News' Morning Edition on Tuesday that the two men did not discuss the possibility of Franken's resignation when they spoke more than a week ago.
Franken has told the media he will not resign.
The governor said he thinks it's best to let the Senate's ethics investigation unfold.
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"Having served in the U.S. Senate, the ethics committee is very highly respected, they take their work very, very seriously, they probe very deeply, they have a very professional staff," said Dayton. "I think they will give it a very thorough investigation, which it certainly warrants, and we'll see where it goes from there."
The DFL governor said he didn't talk to Franken about his political future.
"I talked about the couple of times when I've hit very difficult situations when I closed my office, even though I think it was the right thing to do," said Dayton.
In 2004, Dayton closed his U.S. Senate office saying he feared a possible terrorist attack that could harm his staff or visitors.
"Time Magazine rated me one of the five worst senators in the country shortly after the closure, and the glare of public spotlight and how hard it is and that was the tenor of our conversation," Dayton said.
Dayton added he does not think the controversy around Franken will hurt Democrats next year, when Sen. Amy Klobuchar is up for re-election and all of the state's constitutional offices are on the ballot.