Boehner: Rep. Lee ‘made his own decision’ to resign

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Rep. Chris Lee (R-N.Y.) “made his own decision” to resign on Wednesday after a tabloid website published a suggestive photo the married congressman sent to a woman he encountered on Craigslist.
 
“Congressman Lee made his own decision that he thought was in his best interests and the interests of his family,” Boehner said at a news conference.
 
{mosads}The Speaker did not say whether he spoke to Lee in the hours between when the website, Gawker.com, published its story and when the congressman resigned, shortly before 5 p.m. Speaking tersely and hesitantly about the topic, Boehner also declined to discuss warnings against excess partying that he issued to Republicans lawmakers last year.

“My conversations with members are private and they will remain that way,” he said. “I believe that members of Congress should be held to the highest ethical standard. That’s what the American people expect.”
 
Asked by a reporter why there have so many sex scandals involving Washington politicians in recent years and whether it had anything to do with the Capitol Hill lifestyle, Boehner demurred.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said to laughs.