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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFarenthold resigned ahead of ethics ruling against him
Former GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold's (R-Texas) sudden resignation announcement earlier this month was prompted by an impending House Ethics ruling against him, the office of Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.
The committee which was investigating allegations he sexually harassed his employees and lied during his testimony was forced to close its probe after Farenthold's abrupt departure. It remains unclear what the repercussions for the lawmaker would have been had they ruled against him.
HuffPost first reported the motivation behind Farenthold's April 6 resignation, which came months after he had already announced that he wouldn't run for reelection in 2018.
Farenthold had come under fire late last year following revelations that hed settled a sexual harassment claim to a former aide after she sued him over her 2014 firing. The $84,000 payout came from an obscure, taxpayer-backed settlement fund created for such purposes. Farenthold had vowed to repay the Treasury for the amount, but left Congress on April 6 without doing so.
The surprise resignation came just days after a subpanel of the Ethics Committee notified him of an April 11 vote on its findings against him, a document known as a Statement of Alleged Violation.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/383640-farenthold-resigned-ahead-of-ethics-ruling-against-him
peggysue2
(10,833 posts)He 'knew in his heart it was time to go.'. His words, not mine.
LOL.
These men are shameless and spineless. Frankly, he should have quit after that photo surfaced of him dressed in yellow ducky PJs, posing with a (ahem) comely young woman.
I must say, he looked positively fetching in those PJs.
mythology
(9,527 posts)They had previously put his case on hold even after he had used public funds to pay off his accuser.
The House and Senate ethics committees are a joke. Oversight needs to be removed from themselves, much like with cops. The Senate oversight committee has gone years without punishing anybody.