Barton. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who has apologized after a nude photo appeared on social media, told a woman in 2015 that he would go to Capitol Police if she went public with explicit photos he had sent her, the Washington Post reports. Barton says he was separated from his then-wife at the time, and took part in multiple consensual relationships. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and the story is raising questions about so-called "revenge porn."
"I want your word that this ends I will be completely straight with you," he says on the call, which the woman recorded. "I am ready if I have to, I don't want to, but I should take all this crap to the Capitol Hill Police and have them launch an investigation. And if I do that, that hurts me potentially big time."