Republican Rep. Trent Franks to resign after sexual harassment allegations

On Thursday night Arizona GOP Rep. Trent Franks issued a statement that he will be resigning from Congress on January 31. The news comes after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against the lawmaker.

In his statement, Franks denied having “physically intimidated, coerced, or had, or attempted to have, any sexual contact with any member of my congressional staff.”

However, he did admit that he made staffers “uncomfortable”, and discussed surrogacy and fertility issues with two female members of his staff.

House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office also released a statement to the effect that claims of misconduct against Franks were “credible” and that the latter, when confronted with them, did not deny such claims.

The lawmaker’s resignation announcement comes two days after that of Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers, and mere hours after that of Minnesota Democratic Rep. Al Franken.

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