I know what he did was immoral and all, but.....
Can you blame him?
Posted on 12/14/2007 1:55:01 PM PST by NormsRevenge
TOPEKA, Kan. - Attorney General Paul Morrison announced his resignation Friday, less than a week after he acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a former employee who has accused him of sexual harassment, and of professional misconduct aimed at his predecessor.
"I have held others accountable for their actions, and now I must be held accountable for my mistakes," Morrison said in a statement read to reporters. At one point, he paused to gather himself. "Many people feel betrayed by my actions, and they have every right to feel that way."
Morrison's resignation is effective Jan. 31, 2008. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a fellow Democrat, will appoint his replacement.
The former employee, Linda Carter, has said she and Morrison had a two-year affair starting in September 2005 — meaning it continued while Morrison ran for attorney general last year and after he took office. Both are married.
Carter filed a civil rights claim against Morrison last month with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to her account, the affair began in September 2005 and lasted about two years. Linda Carter also accused him of attempting to influence a federal lawsuit involving Phill Kline, whom Morrison ousted from the attorney general's office in last year's election.
Kris Kobach, chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, said resigning was Morrison's only "plausible option."
"Paul Morrison has disgraced the office which he was elected to," Kobach said in a statement. "The people of Kansas deserve better than scandals, rumors and embarrassment from their chief law enforcement official."
Morrison was Johnson County's district attorney for 18 years, a Republican who switched to the Democratic Party last year to challenge the GOP conservative Kline. After Kline's defeat, Republicans picked him to take over Morrison's old job.
Carter, former director of administration for the district attorney's office, accuses Morrison of trying to pressure her to write letters on behalf of eight former employees who were dismissed by Kline. In August, a federal magistrate dismissed all but one count in a wrongful termination lawsuit they filed.
Carter also claims Morrison sought sensitive information about Kline's activities as district attorney. She detailed her allegations in a signed statement obtained by The Topeka Capital-Journal.
On Sunday, Morrison confirmed that he and Carter had had a relationship, but said many of her claims were "patently false." Sebelius said Monday that Morrison should resign if the allegations were proven, but a spokeswoman for Morrison had said then that he had no plans to resign.
During the campaign, Morrison faced allegations that he had drunkenly propositioned another female employee in a bar in 1990. But two federal lawsuits arising from those claims were dismissed, and when Kline raised the claims as an issue during the campaign's final weeks, the tactic backfired.
As Kline was failing to gain ground, Morrison and Carter were having their affair, according to her account. She said they had sexual encounters in the Johnson County Courthouse and in hotels in several Kansas cities and three other states.
Good riddance. His election was bought and paid for by Tiller the Killer. Too bad our carpetbagging demonRAT governor will probably appoint someone just as bad.
No, it only backfired because the local press LIED and covered all this up. Now only do we find out later that THIS STUFF matters, BAD behavior matters.
A “D”
“
What he did was on purpose..how can it be a mistake ?”
Because he got caught.
“he acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a former employee who has accused him of sexual harassment”
How do you have an affair for 2 years and it qualify as “harassment”?
I know what he did was immoral and all, but.....
Can you blame him?
Bush's hyper-aggressive corporate warmongering (gotta throw "corporate" in there somewhere,) with its use of phallic missiles and guns, is driving men to attack women.
Lover Boy
Well I admit that I didn’t expect him to quit this fast so it’s an obvious indication that the situation was as sleezy as it looked, if not worse. Now it’ll be interesting to see who Sebelius appoints to fill out his term. Some people are thinking that maybe Chris Biggs will be appointed.
Yes, unfortunate. You could say that Tiller the Killer wasted his money buying votes for this ******, but unfortunately Sebelius can be counted on to appoint someone even worse. She can’t disappoint NARAL and Planned Parenthood.
There is a lot more to the story. As AG he was trying to get her to pass on info on the Planned Parenthood criminal investigation now run by his old office. There have been several threads on this. It’s quite a story about corruption.
That was fast. I’d have preferred him to remain. There ought to be a special election called for next November given how early into his term Morrison is resigning. Fair is fair, after all. The only thing I know about Biggs is that he is (was ?) Securities Commissioner and apparently is quite liberal with the state’s money:
http://www.efg2.com/Meadowlark/2005/08-10.htm
State law says the governor appoints a replacement for the remainder of the term.
The only thing I know about Biggs is that he is (was ?) Securities Commissioner and apparently is quite liberal with the state’s money
Well he's still the Securities Commissioner, though I don't know how he can be liberal with the state's money in a position like that. Before that he was the Geary County DA and he also came close to beating Kline in the 2002 AG election. I think that's one of the reasons why his name is being floated.
This will ensure that George "Killer" Tiller can keep doing 3rd-trimester abortions in Kansas for a long time to come.
How convenient... for the Democrats. I would certainly not hesistate to introduce legislation that if a statewide incumbent resigns before the 2-year mark in their term that a special election should be called to fill the remainder (probably also barring an interim appointee from running for the office as well). It's not right that the appointee will be serving longer than the person elected to the office.
"Well he's still the Securities Commissioner, though I don't know how he can be liberal with the state's money in a position like that. Before that he was the Geary County DA and he also came close to beating Kline in the 2002 AG election. I think that's one of the reasons why his name is being floated."
No wonder you're so excited about him. He smells like another Gilligan-Sebelius rodent hack.
You’re right. This guy seems to be the type of lowlife hack who would stick it out and try to weather the storm. Like Slick Willie, he seems to have no sense of decency. If he’s stepping down, it surely is because his conduct has been way over the line. I’m glad to see his political career ruined. Kansas deserves more conservative leadership than they’re getting with the likes of Morrison and Sebelius.
Of course you wouldn't. But what good would that do now?
No wonder you're so excited about him. He smells like another Gilligan-Sebelius rodent hack.
Every day in every way you demonstrate your ignorance about politics outside of whatever jerk-water Tennessee hamlet you infest. I report what I heard and of course you would assume that I'm excited about him. For all you know Biggs is pro-life. That'd make him your number one guy. Unlike Phill, Biggs is an experienced prosecutor and trial lawyer. He had an excellent track record in Geary and regardless of politics I think he'd make a good AG. And assuming that he isn't diddling his administrative aides, too, that'd make a refreshing change from our last two.
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