Article snippet: Rep. Patrick Meehan is resigning from Congress effective immediately, the Pennsylvania Republican announced Friday. Meehan, who has been battling sexual misconduct allegations, had already announced that he planned to retire from Congress. He said in a statement that he plans to pay back the $39,000 he used from his office account to settle a claim against him. “While I do believe I would be exonerated of any wrongdoing, I also did not want to put my staff through the rigors of an Ethics Committee investigation and believed it was best for them to have a head start on new employment rather than being caught up in an inquiry. And since I have chosen to resign, the inquiry will not become a burden to taxpayers and committee staff,” Meehan said in a statement. The House Ethics Committee voted in February to open an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Meehan and his former chief of staff. Meehan previously sat on the committee, but was removed after The New York Times reported he used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment complaint with a former staffer. The Times reported that Meehan professed romantic desires to a staffer after she initiated a relationship with a man outside the congressman’s office. Meehan then allegedly grew hostile toward the woman when she did not accept his overtures. Meehan later acknowledged much of what the Times reported, including that he expressed his affection to the woman over ice cream and that he was up... Link to the full article to read more