Texas Rep. Joe Barton not seeking re-election after explicit messages, nude photo scandal
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, says he will not be seeking reelection in 2018 following the release of sexually explicit messages as well as a nude photo of himself a that circulated on the internet last week.
The move comes after a woman shared a series of private Facebook messages, in which Barton had asked her questions that were sexual in nature just a week after he apologized for sending a nude photo himself to another woman. The Star-Telegram released the messages in question on Wednesday which Barton confirmed to the outlet. The woman, Kelly Canon, is a Republican from Arlington, Texas, told the Star-Telegram she had exchanged messages with Barton for several years, said that he "took it a step too far on rare occasions."
"He actually thinks he can win" re-election, Canon said of the Star-Telegram. "I thought maybe if I come forward maybe others will come forward too. ... Someone has to step up. This is a pattern." She said that the two did not have a physical relationship.
"I will affirm I did have that exchange, but nothing more," Barton said in a text message to the Telegram.
Barton released a statement on Thursday announcing his move to step down, thanking his supporters in the 6th District.
"As a young Congressman, my slogan was 'listening to you in Texas, working for you in Washington.' For me that was never just a saying, but a commitment - a way of life. Over the last thirty three years, I have held thousands of public meetings and visited with so many great people in Texas on issues important to them. In Washington, I have voted over 20,000 times on the House Floor to hopefully make life a little better for the people in the 6th District.
"I am very proud of my public record and the many accomplishments of my office. It has been a tremendous honor to represent the 6th District of Texas for over three decades, but now it is time to step aside and let there be a new voice.
"I am announcing today that I will not seek reelection in 2018. To the people of the 6th District, thank you for your support and friendship."
According to the Washington Post, the woman who received the nude photo from Barton had contact had consensual sexual intercourse on two occasions and also recorded a phone conversation in which he threatened to call the Capitol Police if she revealed their correspondence.
Over time, she said, she became aware of and corresponded with multiple other women who engaged in relationships with Barton.
"I want your word that this ends," he said in the recorded phone call reported by the Post. "I will be completely straight with you. I am ready if I have to, I don't want to, but I should take all this crap to the Capitol Hill Police and have them launch an investigation. And if I do that, that hurts me potentially big time."
The woman then asked Barton what he would tell the police.
"I would tell them that I had a three-year undercover relationship with you over the Internet that was heavily sexual and that I had met you twice while married and had sex with you on two different occasions and that I exchanged inappropriate photographs and videos with you that I wouldn't like to be seen made public, that you still apparently had all of those and were in position to use them in a way that would negatively affect my career," he said, according to the Post. "That's the truth."
An anonymous Twitter account posted a nude photo of the Congressman, but it's not known how it acquired the photo of Barton. He later explained the details of his past sexual encounters in a statement to CBS News.
"While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women," Barton said. He added, "Each was consensual. Those relationships have ended. I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days. I am sorry that I let my constituents down."
In a statement late Wednesday, Barton told the Post that a transcript of the recording may be "evidence" of a "potential crime against me." Barton later welcomed a Capitol Police investigation into the photo's release.
Barton, Texas's longest-serving Congressman, joined the House in 1985 and previously served as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee.
CBS News' Blair Guild contributed to this report.
