The turmoil in Congress has continued this week, as a new wave of resignations has occurred. With Democrats Al Franken and John Conyers already resigning in disgrace, and controversial Senate candidate Roy Moore suffering from various allegations of sexual misconduct, things are pretty chaotic. But now a another politician, a Republican congressman, has decided to end his term in the House due to unforeseen circumstances.
As reported at the Daily Mail, Arizona Congressman Trent Franks said Friday that his resignation would be effective immediately, instead of waiting until the end of January. Franks had planned on exiting Congress at a later date, after two female staffers complained that he had asked them to be surrogate mothers for his child.
The Associated Press talked to one of the aides, and she claimed that on 4 separate occasion Franks offered her $5 million dollars to carry his child. According to reports, the two aides felt that Franks’ suggestions were unwanted sexual advances because they believed that rather than artificial insemination, he was hinting at impregnating them via sexual intercourse.
And another aide claims that Franks once tried to convince her that the two of them were in love. As a response to all these claims, Franks decided to resign, saying that he wanted to prevent a “sensationalized trial” after The House Ethics Committee said it would investigate him to see if his conduct “constitutes sexual harassment.”
However, Franks will now be leaving earlier than expected because his wife is stuck in the hospital battling an undiagnosed chronic sickness that apparently struck right as these accusations came out.
“Last night, my wife was admitted to the hospital in Washington, D.C. due to an ongoing ailment,” Franks said in a statement. “After discussing options with my family, we came to the conclusion that the best thing for our family now would be for me to tender my previous resignation effective today, December 8th, 2017.”
Specifically, Franks is accused of asking two “female subordinates” to bear his child in 2011, three years after he and his wife had twins using a donor egg and a surrogate.
The 60-year-old said in a statement on Thursday: “Due to my familiarity and experience with the process of surrogacy, I clearly became insensitive as to how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others. I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress.”
Franks didn’t think it would be possible for him to get a fair hearing due to the insane climate surrounding the sexual harassment issue, so he opted to bow out. Unfortunately, however, his wife is now sick as well. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Franks is the third Congressman to exit the stage in the past week, and he likely won’t be the last when this inquisition has passed its zenith.
Source: Daily Mail