WASHINGTON — Minnesota Sen. Al Franken apologized Thursday and faced a likely Senate ethics investigation after a Los Angeles radio anchor accused him of forcibly kissing her during a 2006 USO tour. Fellow Democrats as well as Republican colleagues called for an investigation.

Leeann Tweeden also accused Franken of posing for a photo with his hands on her breasts as she slept, while both were performing for military personnel two years before the one-time comedian was elected to the Senate.

Tweeden posted the allegations, including the photo, on the website of KABC, where she works as a news anchor for a morning radio show.

Tweeden said Thursday that Franken was persistent, and “every time I see him now, my hands clench into fists.”

Still, she said she has no reason not to accept his apology, and is not calling for an ethics investigation or for Franken to resign. She told a news conference in Los Angeles that she came forward hoping to inspire others to tell their stories.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the allegations “troubling” and said he hopes and expects that the Senate Ethics Committee will investigate.

“Sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated,” Schumer said.

Franken’s fellow Minnesota Democrat, Amy Klobuchar, said, “This should not have happened to Leeann Tweeden. I strongly condemn this behavior, and the Senate Ethics Committee must open an investigation.”

Franken initially released a brief statement in which he apologized but questioned Tweeden’s recollection of his behavior during their rehearsal for a skit. In a longer statement Thursday afternoon, he again apologized while maintaining that he remembered the rehearsal differently.

“While I don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences,” he said. “Coming from the world of comedy, I’ve told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive.”

Of the photo, Franken said: “I look at it now, and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate. It’s obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture.”

Senate Democrats reacted swiftly and with one voice to the allegation that came as Republicans are grappling with allegations of molestation against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in Alabama.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has said Moore should step aside, quickly said the Senate should look into Franken.

Statement by Sen. Al Franken on sexual harassment allegation

Text of a statement Thursday from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) after he was accused of sexual harassment by fellow performer Leeann Tweeden on a 2006 USO Tour:

“The first thing I want to do is apologize: to Leeann, to everyone else who was part of that tour, to everyone who has worked for me, to everyone I represent, and to everyone who counts on me to be an ally and supporter and champion of women. There’s more I want to say, but the first and most important thing_and if it’s the only thing you care to hear, that’s fine_is: I’m sorry.

“I respect women. I don’t respect men who don’t. And the fact that my own actions have given people a good reason to doubt that makes me feel ashamed.

“But I want to say something else, too. Over the last few months, all of us_including and especially men who respect women_have been forced to take a good, hard look at our own actions and think (perhaps, shamefully, for the first time) about how those actions have affected women.

“For instance, that picture. I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate. It’s obvious how Leeann would feel violated by that picture. And, what’s more, I can see how millions of other women would feel violated by it_women who have had similar experiences in their own lives, women who fear having those experiences, women who look up to me, women who have counted on me.

“Coming from the world of comedy, I’ve told and written a lot of jokes that I once thought were funny but later came to realize were just plain offensive. But the intentions behind my actions aren’t the point at all. It’s the impact these jokes had on others that matters. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come to terms with that.

“While I don’t remember the rehearsal for the skit as Leeann does, I understand why we need to listen to and believe women’s experiences.

“I am asking that an ethics investigation be undertaken, and I will gladly cooperate.

“And the truth is, what people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories. They deserve to be heard, and believed. And they deserve to know that I am their ally and supporter. I have let them down and am committed to making it up to them.”