Rep. Kathleen Rice says Sen. Al Franken should resign

Rep. Kathleen Rice says Sen. Al Franken and Rep. John Conyers should resign in the aftermath of recent sexual harassment allegations.

Asked in an interview on CNN Monday whether Franken (D-Minn.) should keep his job, Rice (D-Garden City) said, “I don’t think so.”

Rice in the interview also criticized House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who a day earlier had defended Conyers (D-Mich.), saying she trusted his judgment on whether he should resign.

“People are seeing us circle the wagons and protect our own,” said Rice. “Whether it’s Donald Trump not coming out against Roy Moore . . . or if it’s Nancy Pelosi protecting John Conyers and saying that she leaves it up to him to make the right decision. I think that’s ridiculous.”

Rice said “there should professional repercussions for every single harasser” as the private sector has done with movie producer Harvey Weinstein or former CBS anchor Charlie Rose.

“If you ask any person on the street do you think the action CBS took with Charlie Rose was appropriate . . . or . . . Harvey Weinstein, they would say ‘Yes they took the right action,’ ” said Rice. “Why can’t we do the same thing in Washington?”