Republican Texas Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona announced Friday he will resign immediately, instead of Jan. 30, 2018, after his wife was admitted to the hospital.
“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.”
Franks announced his resignation Thursday after the House Committee on Ethics said it would investigate complaints that he asked two former aides to be surrogate mothers to his children.
In his resignation announcement, Franks said that he never “physically intimidated, coerced, or had, or attempted to have, any sexual contact with any member of my congressional staff,” but discussed surrogacy with two women. He said he would resign at the end of January “rather than allow a sensationalized trial by media damage those things I love most.”
“However, I do want to take full and personal responsibility for the ways I have broached a topic that, unbeknownst to me until very recently, made certain individuals uncomfortable,” Franks said, adding, “I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress.”
Politico reported Friday that the unnamed aides were concerned Franks was asking them for intercourse in order to bear his children. In his original statement, Franks said that his twin children were conceived in “a pro-life approach that did not discard or throw away any embryos.”
Franks offered one of the women $5 million to act as a surrogate, according to an ABC News report.
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