Ex-Rep. Lee to donors: ‘It was wrong’

Former Rep. Chris Lee (R-N.Y.), who resigned from Congress last month in the wake of an online scandal, apologized to campaign donors in a letter last week and promised to refund any money they had given over the past year.   

“I regret very much how my actions affected my family, staff and constituents,” Lee wrote, according to Buffalo News. “I make no excuses for my behavior. It was wrong.” 

{mosads}The married lawmaker resigned in February after the website Gawker published a photo of him in which he was topless, along with e-mails he exchanged with a woman he met on Craigslist. 

In an e-mail to the Buffalo News, Lee said that “any individual who donated to my campaign in 2010 or 2011 will be given back their donation in full. … I felt it was important to return the money because it belongs to my supporters; not me.”

Lee easily won reelection this past November and had just under $750,000 in his campaign account as of his last filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Earlier this month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set May 24 as the date for a special election to fill Lee’s vacant seat.

New York Republicans have chosen state lawmaker Jane Corwin as their nominee in the special, with Democratic leaders still deliberating on an opponent.