Texas Republican Congressman Blake Farenthold has announced that he will be resigning from Congress after months of credible allegations of sexual impropriety and workplace misconduct plagued his office. Rep. Farenthold had previously announced that he would not be seeking re-election after it was discovered he used more than $84,000 of taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit with a former employee.
Today, Rep. Farenthold released a statement, saying, "While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it's time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve."
JUST IN: Rep. Blake Farenthold resigns from Congress.
— ABC News (@ABC) April 6, 2018
"While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it’s time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve," he says in a statement. pic.twitter.com/vYzgubLlbi
Rep. Farenthold has also previously said that he would pay back the $84,000, but has yet to honor that statement.
Blake Farenthold, the Texas Republican who has not paid back the $84,000 he promised to reimburse to taxpayers stemming from his harassment scandal, announces he will resign via press release on Friday evening. Says he knows “in my heart” it’s time to move on
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 6, 2018
According to the Texas Tribune, Farenthold currently "faces an investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee over the harassment allegations, along with questions about whether he used official resources for his re-election and if he made false statements to the committee."
It is unclear why the sudden resignation occurred. Townhall will continue to cover this story as it develops.
