San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, the Democrat facing fire from at least seven women who’ve come forward and accused him of sexual harassment, said in a letter to the city that taxpayers should rightly pick up the costs for his legal defense.
City Council members are set to meet Tuesday in closed session to discuss his request, made last week through his attorney, CNN reported. But it’s a shaky situation: Seven of the nine city council members have already asked Mr. Filner to resign.
On top of that, the city is named as a defendant in one of the suits — that of Mr. Filner’s former spokeswoman, CNN reported.
Mr. Filner, 70, said he’s entering a clinic to receive two weeks of “intensive therapy” in August. But he’s also said numerous times he’s not relinquishing his office. Calls for him to step aside have grown louder in recent days, however; his chief of staff resigned, and a group has started a recall petition, CNN reported.
It’s not yet estimated how much his legal defense would cost.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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