Blake Farenthold abruptly resigned from Congress three weeks ago and got out of Dodge before returning the $84,000 in taxpayer funds he promised to pay back to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit.
But now, according to the Huffington Post, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is demanding the $84,000, not for the federal treasury but for the state to partially cover the cost of a special election to replace Farenthold.
RT to tell Blake Farenthold to pay for the special election that had to be called to fill the seat he resigned from because of his disgraceful conduct. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for his misdeeds. #txlege @Elect_Blake https://t.co/TATimZEkaz
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 25, 2018
From The Huffington Post:
- “I am writing to demand that you cover all costs for the called special election to fill the seat now vacated following your resignation,” Abbott said in a sternly worded letter to Farenthold. “While you have publicly offered to reimburse the $84,000 in taxpayer funds you wrongly used to settle a sexual harassment claim, there is no legal recourse requiring you to give that money back to Congress.”
Blake Farenthold quit Congress and went back to Texas in part to avoid repaying $84K in taxpayer money.
Now the Texas governor is telling him to pay up — and then pay some more to cover the costs of his special election. Womp womp. https://t.co/bAAhbzPhaL
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 25, 2018
Local officials estimate it will cost $200,000 for the special election to replace Farenthold.