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Susie Tompkins Buell, the prominent Democratic donor, isn’t happy with how Democrats have handled sexual misconduct allegations within their own party – and it could affect how she doles out her financial support ahead of a contentious midterm election cycle.

When asked on the Women Rule podcast about how former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) resigned after several harassment accusations were leveled against him, Buell said she was “very ashamed of the Democrats for letting that happen.”

“I feel like it was so unfair,” said Buell, who is widely known in left-leaning circles for cutting big political checks and through her close friendship with Hillary Clinton. “It seemed like the people that forced him out—it was like vigilantes on the rampage. It just struck me as so wrong.”

Franken stepped down from his post late last year, after pressure mounted from fellow senators in his party. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has embraced the wider #MeToo movement and fought to reform Capitol Hill’s own sexual harassment policy, was the first to nudge Franken toward resignation in December. Within hours, six other female Democratic senators followed suit.

Buell called that snowballing process a “stain” on the party. This isn’t the first time Buell has raised objections to how Senate Democrats handled the Franken situation. She said in January that she might not support women senators who called for him to leave.

“I’m very sorry that it happened,” she said on the podcast, before offering her own advice: “It reminds me of what’s happening in some of these situations with women taking men down. You’ve just to be more careful about things. You’ve got to take your time.”

Buell, the founder of the Esprit clothing brand and one of the Democratic Party’s most generous and loyal donors, has championed a host of progressive women in politics over the years, including Gillibrand. But she delivered some criticism for the New York senator on the podcast: “This has been her issue, sexual harassment…and I respect her very much for that, but I felt at that moment she just went way too fast and she kind of dragged everyone along with her.”

Asked whether pushing out Franken would affect her decision to financially support Gillibrand or other senators, Buell said: “I haven’t made a decision…I don’t really know. I’m just kind of waiting to see.”

To hear more from Susie Tompkins Buell on the future of the Democratic Party, her longtime friendship with Hillary Clinton and how she built a clothing empire from scratch, listen to the full podcast here. Women Rule takes listeners backstage with women bosses for real talk on how they made it and what advice they have for women looking to lead.

Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/25/women-rule-susie-tompkins-buell-547829