POLITICS: “Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) announced Thursday [12-7-17] that he would resign from office as of Jan. 31, 2018, after discussing surrogacy issues with female staffers…
Franks’ announcement shocked Capitol Hill. He has been a vocal social conservative since being elected to Congress in 2002, and has authored numerous anti-abortion bills. He is married, with twin children…
Franks is the third lawmaker to announce plans to resign this week as the furor over sexual misconduct and harassment sweeps Capitol Hill. He will be the first Republican to vacate his post amid the growing scandal.
In a lengthy statement, Franks said he wanted to take ‘full and personal responsibility for the ways I have broached a topic that, unbeknownst to me until very recently, made certain individuals uncomfortable.’ He said he and his wife had ‘long struggled with infertility’ and gone through three miscarriages. They tried to adopt children multiple times, only to have the birth mothers renege before giving birth.”
-Rachel Bade, Kyle Cheney, and Elena Schneider, “Rep. Trent Franks to resign after discussing surrogacy with female staffers,” Politico, Dec. 7, 2017 10:01pm