 New details about the controversy surrounding Rep. Trent Franks come as sexual harassment allegations have engulfed Capitol Hill. Franks says he is resigning Jan. 31 amid a House Ethics Committee investigation of possible sexual harassment. The eight-term lawmaker abruptly resigned Friday, bowing to an ultimatum from House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Ryan told Franks that he would refer the allegations to the Ethics Committee and urged him to step aside. The staffer told her story and detailed alleged misconduct by Franks about another staffer, which a third party aware of the situation verified. "During my time there, I was asked a few times to look over a 'contract' to carry his child, and if I would conceive his child, I would be given $5 million," she said, adding that she refused to look over the contract and has never seen a copy. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Female aides fretted Franks wanted to have sex to impregnate them The congressman was seeking a pregnancy surrogate, and aides said he approached them for the assignment. Franks, a staunch conservative, said in his statement Thursday that he never physically intimidated, coerced or attempted to have sexual contact with any member of his congressional staff. He said he regrets that his "discussion of this option and process in the workplace" with two female staffers made them feel uncomfortable. Ryan on Thursday said in a statement that he was briefed on the allegations last week, and found them to be "serious and requiring action." A senior congressional official said Ryan's general counsel was contacted about two weeks ago by someone with information about "troubling behavior" by Franks involving a former staffer. "I accompanied (the former aide) to the meeting in the speaker's office where she said Congressman Trent Franks offered her $5 million if she conceived him a child." Franks became the third lawmaker this week alone to announce that he will step down after being accused of sexual misconduct, following Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).
– A former aide says Rep. Trent Franks offered her $5 million to act as a surrogate for he and his wife, the AP reports. And according to Politico, sources say female staffers were unclear if the Arizona Republican was suggesting in vitro fertilization or actual intercourse when he made the pitch. Franks announced his resignation Thursday ahead of a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, admitting to speaking to two female staffers about surrogacy. Now new details are leaking out. A former staffer says Franks asked her about being a surrogate at least four times, making her uncomfortable. "I was asked a few times to look over a 'contract' to carry his child, and if I would conceive his child, I would be given $5 million," she tells the AP. She says she felt retaliated against after refusing. Meanwhile, sources say the two female staffers asked about surrogacy by Franks were unclear if he was suggesting sex as part of the deal. A former staffer says in another instance Franks tried to convince a female aide that she was in love with him by giving her an article about how you know you're in love with someone. Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, says she reported allegations against Franks to House Speaker Paul Ryan in recent weeks, calling his behavior "horrific"—"a powerful man hiring young women, procuring staff, to potentially surrogate children for him." Ryan then asked Franks to resign. While Franks had said he would leave office in January, he now says he will resign Friday after his wife was hospitalized Thursday night "due to an ongoing ailment," CNN reports.