UPDATE Dec. 20: Sen. Al Franken will officially retire from the Senate on Jan. 2, according to a spokesperson.

Previously:

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced Thursday he will step down from office after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.

Franken said he will step down in coming weeks.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Franken denied wrongdoing, but said he believes he can no longer do his job effectively.

Over the last few weeks, a number of women have come forward to talk about how they felt my actions had affected them. I was shocked. I was upset, he said. But in responding to their claims, I also wanted to be respectful of that broader conversation, because all women deserve to be heard and their experiences taken seriously. I think that was the right thing to do. I also think it gave some people the false impression that I was admitting to doing things that I in fact havent done

Franken said he believed an investigation by the ethics committee would have cleared his name.