Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter “demanding” former Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, pay for the emergency special election to fill his vacant seat.
In the letter, Abbott also urges Farenthold to reimburse the taxpayer funds he used to settle a sexual harassment claim made against him, an incident which led to his resignation earlier this month.
“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,” Abbott wrote.
“I am urging you to give those funds back to the counties in your district to cover the costs of the June 30, 2018, special election,” he added.
TX Gov. Greg Abbott “demanding” ex-Rep. Blake Farenthold cover costs of special election to fill his seat (previous deleted tweet said “orders,” which wasn’t right) pic.twitter.com/NhO5Qp1TsF
— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) April 25, 2018
Farenthold resigned from Congress in April. The former lawmaker initially offered to pay back the $84,000 in taxpayer money he used to settle the claim made against him. It is not immediately clear whether Farenthold ever followed through on his promise
“While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it’s time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve,” Farenthold said in a statement announcing his resignation earlier this month.
The House Ethics Committee, which was investigating the scandal surrounding Farenthold prior to his resignation, urged the lawmaker to follow through and repay the $84,000.
“We note Representative Farenthold publicly promised to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for $84,000 in funds paid to settle the lawsuit brought against him for claims of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation,” the committee said in a statement. “We encourage him in the strongest possible terms to uphold that promise.”
