Opinion | Sexual assault allegations should be addressed
Mike Franken addresses sexual allegations after resurfaced by media.
U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken speaks at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
September 25, 2022
Michael Franken, Iowa’s Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, had his name added to the long list of political figures accused of assault.
On Sept. 19 the Iowa Field-Report, a conservative leaning publication, reported Franken was accused of sexual assault by his former campaign manager in March 2022, according to a Des Moines police report. The Franken campaign did not address the allegations until the article was published.
Time and time again, assault allegations go unaddressed until they are resurfaced by the media. Politicians need to be transparent and address assault allegations when they surface instead of sweeping them under the rug.
Franken was accused of assault by his former campaign manager Kimberly Strope-Boggus. A report filed with the Des Moines Police Department alleged Franken forcibly kissed Strope-Boggus. The case was closed and filed as unfounded on April 12.
The Franken for Iowa campaign manager Julie Stauch denied the allegations in an earlier statement to The Daily Iowan.
“These allegations are false. This accusation was investigated by the Des Moines Police Department and the Polk County Attorney’s Office who found no wrongdoing and closed the case as unfounded,” Stauch wrote.
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that more than two-thirds of sexual assaults go unreported to the police. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 20 percent of survivors don’t report for fear of retaliation, 13 percent believe police would not help, and 8 percent believe sexual assault is not important enough to report.
But we must recognize due process. Anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. In this case, Franken was not found guilty. In fact, Strope-Boggus described Franken as having no intent to harm her or other women he kissed.
If Franken is innocent, he should have addressed the allegations when they were first reported. This is an issue of transparency, and it affects campaigns everywhere.
It seems like a prominent political figure has allegations of assault each campaign cycle. This pertains to politicians from both parties, including President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Like always, politicians will deny allegations. But why don’t politicians address allegations when they occur? Why sweep false allegations under the rug?
Political figures should be held to a higher standard. No one is immune to justice when someone is accused of a crime. Even if they maintain innocence, politicians need to face the impeding investigation, not hide from it.
Assault allegations cannot just resurface from the media during campaign season. This current trend is not sustainable to the future of election campaigns.
Had Franken addressed allegations in March, voters could have had this in mind during the primaries. If most Democrats believed Franken, his primary would have faced no impact.
But now voters in November will have to factor in that Franken did not address the allegations when they first surfaced, harming the chance of Democrats defeating Sen. Chuck Grassley.
This issue goes beyond Franken, but he should have done better.
As public servants, politicians must be transparent — even at the sake of their reputation. We need to demand honesty from the people we vote in office.
Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.