Hours after Sen. Al Franken announced his resignation on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Tim Kaine said the public will know the number of sexual harassment claims filed against all senators within the past 10 years.
Kaine (D-Va.) said in an interview Thursday that the data complied by the Office of Compliance for the U.S. Congress will be made available, after he sent a letter to the office’s executive director Wednesday.
“They’re gonna come out,” Kaine said, referring to the data. “I’m a U.S. senator. I’m entitled to this information and if I’m going to get it, I’m going to make sure the public gets it.”
Kaine could not offer an immediate timetable on when the information would be made public.
He requested the office reveal the number of sexual harassment claims against each senator going back to 2007, in addition to the number of claims against members of each senator’s personal and committee staff.
Kaine said since he joined the Senate in 2013, no claims of sexual harassment had been filed against his office.
The names of accused individual staff members will not be released.
"The Senate is like any part of society, it's like the media business, or any other business," Kaine said. "You'll probably see more claims."