Democratic Sen. Al Franken (Minn.) said on Monday that he would have never imagined anyone would come out with sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Franken held a press conference in front of his senate office on Monday where he promised to answer questions regarding the allegations against him. It was the senator's first time back at work in Congress since Leeann Tweeden’s initial accusation.
The senator started with a brief statement where he apologized for all the people he may have let down.
"I know there are no magic words I can say to regain your trust, and I know that it's going to take time," Franken said. "I’m ready to start that process and it starts with going back to work today."
Franken then, as promised, opened it up to some questions from media members, but only took a few before ending the press conference.
Although Franken claimed he remembered his interaction with Tweeden differently, he said, "you have to respect women's experience."
During the press conference, the embattled senator stated he has been doing a lot of reflecting and is going to attempt to learn from the mistakes he made.
"I want to be someone who adds something to this conversation, and I hope I can do that," he said.
The last question was why Franken could not definitively say more women wouldn't come forward with accusations against him.
"If you had asked me two weeks ago, would any woman come forward with an allegation like this, I would have said no. And so, I cannot speculate. This has been a shock, and it’s been extremely humbling. I am embarrassed, I feel ashamed," Franken said.
The senator finished the press conference by saying he was going to start redeeming himself by working for the people of Minnesota, and he was going to "start that right now." He then walked out.