I would like every one of my constituents to know that I am resigning not because I believe I have done anything illegal, unethical or in breach of my contract with you, the people, but because the behavior of the media and my fellow Representatives, many of them members of my own party, has made it impossible for me to conduct business as usual.
What I did was wrong. However, my transgression is a personal one that concerns my wife and me. It is not the business of the public or my colleagues and I think it is shameful that they, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, engaged in such public condemnation of my character and actions, calling for my resignation from the outset.
It is these things that allow the public to be distracted from the very real business of running the country. And every time the media and other politicians make a big deal of it, it makes it all the more likely these minor scandals will continue to stall politics when they occur in the future.
Once in the very recent past, a President was impeached over matters relating to a sex scandal. It's unfortunate I should have to bring up that sad incident in our history, but I recall that many of the people currently working in Congress labeled those proceedings a witch hunt. What does it say about the state of our prurient interests that some of those same people have forced me into this position today?
I leave my office with a heavy heart, for how will we differentiate the politicians who commit genuine misconduct or real crimes from those who have simply exercised poor judgment?"
I would have cheered a resignation speech of that nature, excoriating the attitudes that fostered this event. Of course it would have been the end of his political career. I suppose he's still planning to run for Mayor of New York.
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