That statement pinned the meter.
Posted on 12/08/2017 12:46:11 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., announced Friday that he is resigning from Congress effective immediately instead of waiting until the end of January.
Franks said Thursday he would leave next month after it emerged that he discussed surrogate parenthood with two female staffers — some reports said he asked them directly to be a surrogate mother. But in a Friday a statement, Franks said his wife was admitted to a hospital Thursday night due to a recurring health issue, and that Friday would be his last day as a sitting member of Congress.
"Last night, my wife was admitted to the hospital in Washington, D.C. due to an ongoing ailment," Franks said. "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 said he discussed surrogacy with his staff because he and his wife have suffered from infertility, and were looking to have a third child.
"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," Franks said. "I have recently learned that the Ethics Committee is reviewing an inquiry regarding my discussion of surrogacy with two previous female subordinates, making each feel uncomfortable. I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress."
"But in the midst of this current cultural and media climate, I am deeply convinced I would be unable to complete a fair House Ethics investigation before distorted and sensationalized versions of this story would put me, my family, my staff, and my noble colleagues in the House of Representatives through hyperbolized public excoriation," Franks said, saying then that he would remain in Congress for most of the next two months. "It is with the greatest sadness, that for the sake of the causes I deeply love, I must now step back from the battle I have spent over three decades fighting."
Franks had served in Congress since 2003 and was a member of the House Freedom Caucus.
If some guy one works for asks one to be a surrogate mother for his child, without his wife and a at least one lawyer in the room with a stack of contracts, One could be quite sure how the impregnating would occur
Duh
You can that again!!
That's what I was wondering.
Just how did he make the presentation? Did he propose to personally impregnate them, or was it to be artificial? That might make a difference.
Don’t these guys get medical for life non Obamacare
Geeze we give them enough dough. They take $1600 a month out of my would-be take home
Congressman Franks is not a slime ball. Hardly in the “Franken” category.
The conversations were poor judgement, but not sexual harassment.
It’s not hard to understand how discussing it with a female subordinate might come across as creepy. It’s certainly inappropriate and shows bad judgment regardless of his intent.
No it’s not and if that’s really all this was about he wouldn’t be resigning.
You are kidding, right? In this supercharged hang’em before any questions atmosphere?
5 mil better get genetics just a step below ascended being...
“You actually question whether asking female employees to have your baby is sexual harassment?”
Not quite what he is supposed to have asked, and I’ve read some stories indicating he talked ABOUT surrogacy, not asking the staffers directly to be one.
In any case, it would be easy enough to just say, “No thank you”. Sexual harassment includes:
“...unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.
Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general...harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).”
https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm
Surrogacy is not normal thought of as a “sexual advance”. It is a medical procedure
“Finding the right surrogate is one of the most important steps and biggest decisions intended parents will make in the entire surrogacy process. Some intended parents choose to work with a surrogate they already know, such as a close friend or family member. For others, the task of finding a surrogate takes considerable time and effort.”
https://surrogate.com/intended-parents/how-to-find-a-surrogate-mother/finding-a-surrogate-mother/
http://www.abc15.com/news/state/ap-trent-franks-offered-aide-5-million-to-carry-his-child
“AP: Trent Franks offered aide $5 million to carry his child”
Do we get to read the convo’s so we can decide ?
I think you keep that if you serve more than 2 or 3 terms.
So
That statement pinned the meter.
Franks is worth > 30 million.
He can afford medical insurance.
And it’s a shame he’s gone - this stuff is so trivial it doesn’t even rise to the level of cocktail chatter.
He was one of the good guys on the Arizona delegation. That he goes and the drunken, drooling thug named Raul “El Reconquistador” Grijalva gets to stay on is not just absurd but grotesque.
Yikes. That reads like the first half of the old "Haggling over the price" Churchill joke. I wonder which secret slush fund covers that sort of thing?
I always thought it was what ever the accuser “perceives”
That would help. Meanwhile, I’m not assuming the conversation was anything other than what he said it was.
He’s my rep; I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt until we hear otherwise.
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