01-27-2014, 12:25 PM
UPDATES:
![[Image: radel_ford.jpg]](http://media.salon.com/2013/11/radel_ford.jpg)
While Toronto mayor Rob Ford (pictured right) continues partying, with a new video of him drinking beer hitting the press, he still maintains a lot of support in the city and is working on his re-election campaign for next year.
Florida congressman Trey Radel (pictured left), on the other hand, has tendered his resignation.
Snip:
In Oct. 2013, Radel was caught buying cocaine at a Dupont Circle restaurant from an undercover federal agent. He didn’t tell his colleagues or House Republican leadership about the incident. But on Nov. 20, it became public when Radel appeared in D.C. court to plead guilty to charges that he possessed cocaine. While Radel was in rehab, his staff — many of them junior aides — kept his office afloat.
Top Florida GOP leaders — including the governor and senior party officials — publicly called on Radel to resign. He ignored the calls initially, and returned to Washington at the beginning of January. The House Ethics Committee launched its own investigation of Radel.
Radel just sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announcing his resignation, saying it “is my belief that professionally I cannot fully and effectively serve as a United States Representative to the place I love and call home, Southwest Florida.” He said that 2014 has already “been tremendously positive as I focus on my health, family and faith.”
His resignation is effective today at 6:30 p.m. It’s up to Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott to schedule a special election for Radel’s seat. His southwest Florida district is solidly Republican — Mitt Romney won the district with 61 percent of the vote.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/tr...z2rcHG6jqn
While Toronto mayor Rob Ford (pictured right) continues partying, with a new video of him drinking beer hitting the press, he still maintains a lot of support in the city and is working on his re-election campaign for next year.
Florida congressman Trey Radel (pictured left), on the other hand, has tendered his resignation.
Snip:
In Oct. 2013, Radel was caught buying cocaine at a Dupont Circle restaurant from an undercover federal agent. He didn’t tell his colleagues or House Republican leadership about the incident. But on Nov. 20, it became public when Radel appeared in D.C. court to plead guilty to charges that he possessed cocaine. While Radel was in rehab, his staff — many of them junior aides — kept his office afloat.
Top Florida GOP leaders — including the governor and senior party officials — publicly called on Radel to resign. He ignored the calls initially, and returned to Washington at the beginning of January. The House Ethics Committee launched its own investigation of Radel.
Radel just sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announcing his resignation, saying it “is my belief that professionally I cannot fully and effectively serve as a United States Representative to the place I love and call home, Southwest Florida.” He said that 2014 has already “been tremendously positive as I focus on my health, family and faith.”
His resignation is effective today at 6:30 p.m. It’s up to Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott to schedule a special election for Radel’s seat. His southwest Florida district is solidly Republican — Mitt Romney won the district with 61 percent of the vote.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/tr...z2rcHG6jqn