Sexual harassment allegations against Blake Farenthold to be investigated by House Ethics Committee

The Congressional Ethics Committee has announced that it is opening an investigation into Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) after it was revealed he agreed to a settlement for accusations of sexual harassment by a former aide.

As Politico reported Thursday, new evidence has been discovered from a 2015 incident. The female aide, "received an $84,000, taxpayer-funded settlement after she sued Farenthold in Dec. 2014 over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment."

The news comes just as Rep. John Conyers (D-NY) and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) announced they would be resigning from office amid revelations that sexual harassment suits were settled. When a member resigns the investigation by the Ethics Committee stops because they're no longer an elected official. Rather than go through that public examination of Franks' actions, he resigned.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) announced he would also resign Thursday, though in his speech he proclaimed that he would be found innocent in the investigation.