WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton, whose private life came under national scrutiny after sexual images he shared in an extramarital relationship were…
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WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton, whose private life came under national scrutiny after sexual images he shared in an extramarital relationship were made public, won’t seek re-election.
The Ennis Republican announced his retirement in an interview with The Dallas Morning News on Thursday, three weeks after saying he would seek an 18th term.
«I’ve always listened to people in Texas and worked for them in Washington, and I’ve been listening to a lot of people the last week in Texas,» he said. «… There are enough people who lost faith in me that it’s time to step aside and let there be a new voice for the 6th district in Washington, so I am not going to run for re-election.»
The about-face ends a congressional career that spans more than three decades and — until last week — was most noted for his contentious relationship with environmentalists as former chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.
He’s faced crushing pressure in recent days after lewd images and suggestive messages he exchanged during extramarital relationships surfaced online, an event that prompted a number of women with whom he was involved to speak publicly about their exchanges with Barton.
But unlike other high-profile men who’ve seen their careers crumble recently in politics, Hollywood and the news media, none of Barton’s accusers have said he engaged in sexual harassment or abuse of power.
Barton publicly apologized for what he described as consensual sexual relationships with multiple women while married to former wife. That marriage — Barton’s second, and one he described as «rocky» — ended in 2015.
On Wednesday, Barton reiterated that the relationships were consensual. «I am not guilty of sexual harassment,» he said.
Barton said he believes he still has the support of much of his district, and could likely win, if he ran. “But it would be a nasty campaign, a difficult campaign for my family,” he said.
Barton said he made up his mind on Wednesday, but not just because of a growing number of Republicans calling for him to step aside.
His 12-year-old son Jack asked him not to run, he told The News. When he asked why, Jack told him: “Well you’ve done a lot of good. You have a good record, and you don’t need to keeping running to prove that,” he said.
First elected to Congress in 1984, Barton is the longest serving member of the Texas delegation. National reckoning
A month ago, Barton wasn’t ready to call it quits, despite the exodus of lawmakers in a raucous political climate under President Donald Trump. A half-dozen Texans in the U. S. House have already announced their departure at the end of this term, including two committee chairmen.
But Barton is being forced out at a time the nation is having a reckoning over sexual misconduct and harassment, momentum that has led to the ouster of such high-profile men as Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, veteran journalist Charlie Rose and, more recently, Today Show staple Matt Lauer.
Congress has also been rocked with allegations of misconduct, leading both the House and Senate to mandate sexual harassment training.
In recent weeks, lawmakers including Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and Michigan Rep. John Conyers, both Democrats, have been accused of groping and other inappropriate behavior.
In Alabama, Senate hopeful Roy Moore, a Republican, has been besieged with allegations he pursued sexual relationships with teens while in his 30s. Moore has denied the allegations and rejected calls to exit the race.
Barton, 68, hasn’t been accused of abusive behavior. Nor is he known as a religious crusader, though he’s supported legislation that would ban same-sex marriage. And he supported President Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
In a now widely recirculated quote, he once told The Los Angeles Times that he didn’t care about Clinton’s extramarital affair with a White House intern, «but I do care if he lies under oath,” he said.
Barton owned up last week to being the man in a salacious image bouncing around social media. The photo showed him nude, with genitals obscured, apparently a screen shot from a video of him masturbating. He later acknowledged he’d sent it to a woman with whom he’d had sexual encounters.
Barton, who is engaged to be married a third time, said he long ago told his now-fiance about past transgressions. «These activities, as unsavory as they may be, were from the past, not the present, and I’m never going to do them again,» he said, adding: «I’m not proud, I’m ashamed about that. But that period of my life is over.”
Still, his decision to share lewd messages, even if in a consensual context, drew rebukes from Republicans in his own district — with many of them already offering up potential replacements while warning that if he remained on the ballot, he would hurt other GOP candidates.
Pressure grew Wednesday when state Sen. Konni Burton, a tea party conservative from his district, joined county leaders in saying he should drop his 2018 plans.
Barton rejected suggestions his candidacy could effect others down ballot, but said he respects and understands their disappointment.
«I’m at peace with it,» he said of his decision to withdraw from the 2018 race. «I’m not happy about what’s gone on. But I did do the things and I’ve always been truthful… You have to be accountable for your actions, and I’m trying to do that.»
Others have said that, no matter his decision, Barton is a victim of a devastating and cruel misdeed.
After the initial release of what appeared to be a screen grab image, the video depicting Barton in an intimate act briefly appeared on the conspiracy website InfoWars.
It’s still uncertain how the person who initially released the images on Twitter obtained them. She has declined interview requests from The News.
On Thursday, Barton said he does believe he’s a victim of «revenge porn» and said an investigation is underway. He declined to give specifics, per the investigation, but said he does not believe he knows the person behind the Twitter account who released the images.
Texas law prohibits the release of “revenge porn,” or the malicious act of releasing sexually explicit images or material without the depicted person’s permission.
This week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress announced plans for legislation that would make it a federal offense. Barton said he’d vote in favor of the legislation. Legislative career
Long before the sexting revelation threatened to overshadow Barton’s decades-long congressional career, the former natural gas consultant was best known as a fiscal conservative and powerful ally of Texas’ oil and gas industry.
It was as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a role he held from 2004 to 2007, that Barton first rose to national prominence — both as a champion for the energy sector and as a problem for environmentalists.
He sponsored the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was subsequently signed into law by former President George W. Bush. The policy banned the federal government from requiring companies to disclose chemicals they used, unless states required it — a decision cheered by the energy industry but abhorred by environmentalists.
He also led a successful effort to lift a 40-year ban on crude oil exports in 2015, a move that has led to a rise in demand for U. S. product.
Barton, now the vice chairman of the energy committee, is overseeing the re-authorization of the Department of Energy and helping lead a task force dedicated to getting federal aid for Harvey recovery — though he’s voted against a number of relief bills over concerns it would raise the national debt.
