Trent Franks just issued a statement stating that he will resign effective January 31, 2018 after the House Ethics Committee announced they were opening an investigation into sexual harassment and retaliation concerning female members of his staff.
"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," he wrote in a statement. "I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress."
What a novel idea! He needed a surrogate mother so he asked staffers? Was he serious about wanting them to be surrogates? Maybe. In 2008, Franks and his wife used a surrogate to give birth to their twin son and daughter. There is no indication of the time frame that Franks spoke to his staff about serving as surrogates, so it's unclear whether it was before or after 2008.
Franks is in a safe Republican district in Arizona. He is a member of the so-called Freedom Caucus, though it would seem their idea of freedom does not extend to women's reproductive rights.
Franks famously opined that "the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy is very low."
There might have been a good reason why Franks' god didn't want him to reproduce. Perhaps those staffers understood that.
And this:
