Congressman sent out naked selfies
UNITED STATES: The maelstrom of sex scandals on Capitol Hill has grown after a lewd naked selfie of a Republican congressman found its way online.
Joe Barton, 68, a Texas Republican who has served in the House of Representatives for 32 years, suggested that he had been the victim of a crime after the image, apparently taken from a video of him masturbating, was posted on an anonymous Twitter account. The image was accompanied by a text message that began: ‘‘I want u soo bad ...’’
In a statement, he said: ‘‘While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women. Each was consensual. Those relationships have ended. I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days.’’
A spokeswoman for Barton said he had not made the image public, and did not know who had.
An anonymous woman told The Washington Post that she had received the image from Barton but that she was not responsible for making it public.
She said she knew Barton though Facebook, adding: ‘‘It’s not normal for a member of Congress who runs on ... family values and conservatism to be scouring the internet looking for a new sexual liaison.’’
In Texas, it is illegal to publish so-called ‘‘revenge pornography’’ releasing images or videos of a person’s genitals or sexual activity without their consent. It emerged that in 2015, Barton threatened to report to the police a woman with whom he had shared explicit photographs, videos and messages.
Barton had planned to stand for re-election next year but said he might reconsider that decision. He joins a growing list of US political figures embroiled in scandal, though his status as a potential victim of wrongdoing may mark him out from the crowd.
Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Alabama that will be contested next month, has shown no sign of heeding calls from party leaders on Capitol Hill to quit the race. Moore, 70, has been accused of sexual assault by two women, including one who said she was 14 at the time.
This week United States President Donald Trump appeared to offer Moore his backing. ‘‘Roy Moore denies it, that’s all I can say,’’ he said. Asked about the Alabama race, he added: ‘‘We don’t need a liberal person in there ... We don’t need somebody who’s soft on crime like [Democrat candidate Doug] Jones.’’
Jones is a former lawyer best known for prosecuting two members of the Ku Klux Klan who bombed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, killing four young AfricanAmerican schoolgirls. Polls show Jones and Moore running neckand-neck in Alabama, which has not elected a Democrat senator since 1990.
Two more women came forward to accuse Al Franken, a Democrat senator, of inappropriate touching. Four have now accused the former comedian of unwanted sexual advances.
John Conyers, a Democrat from Detroit, the longest-serving congressman from either party, faces an ethics investigation after it emerged that his office paid to settle a wrongful dismissal complaint in 2015. A former employee alleged she was fired because she would not ‘‘succumb to [his] sexual advances’’.
News of the Conyers settlement has given rise to calls for Congress to end a system that allows complaints of sexual abuse by politicians to be resolved in secret using taxpayers’ money.
Trump, who was accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women shortly before last year’s presidential election, said this week that Congress should disclose such payoffs.
Washington is braced for more claims. Two congresswomen have testified that two congressmen engaged in sexual harassment and misconduct. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, and Barbara Comstock, a Virginia Republican, did not name the men.
"It's not normal for a member of Congress who runs on ... family values and conservatism to be scouring the internet looking for a new sexual liaison."
Woman who received the Barton image