Texas congressman apologizes for explicit photo on internet

WASHINGTON — The heightened scrutiny of sexual impropriety on Capitol Hill has swept up a senior House Republican who apologized Wednesday for a sexually explicit photo that wound up on the internet and raised the possibility that he had been the victim of a crime.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who was once the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is now its vice chairman, said he was reconsidering his political future after the photograph appeared on an anonymous Twitter account.

Just hours after the apology, The Washington Post reported that Barton, 68, had threatened in 2015 to report to the Capitol Police a woman with whom he had shared explicit photographs, videos and messages if she exposed him.

The woman, who spoke anonymously, shared with The Post a recorded phone conversation in which the congressman confronted her about communications she had with other women connected to Barton, including sexually explicit material he had shared with her.

Barton did not dispute the woman’s account. In a statement Wednesday night, he said that she “threatened to publicly share my private photographs and intimate correspondence in retaliation” when he ended their relationship.

“As the transcript reflects, I offered to take the matter to the Capitol Hill Police to open an investigation,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Capitol Police did not immediately reply to a request for comment.