FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Latest on sexual harassment allegations against Kentucky’s former GOP House speaker (all times local):
6:20 p.m.
Kentucky’s former GOP House speaker who resigned his leadership position after acknowledging he signed a secret sexual harassment settlement says he intends to run for re-election to his House seat.
Jeff Hoover told WHAS-TV on Tuesday that he feels the best he has in 10 years. He said he intends to run for re-election this year. Hoover has not yet filed his paperwork to do so, according to the Secretary of State’s website.
Although he resigned from his House leadership post, he remains a House member. Eight Republican House members are seeking to have him expelled.
Hoover was one of four Republican lawmakers to sign the settlement. However, he is the only one facing possible removal from the House. At least one of those other lawmakers, Bowling Green Rep. Jim DeCesare, has said he will not seek re-election.
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6 p.m.
Kentucky’s Republican governor says he does not know why the state’s former GOP House speaker says he is telling lies about him that come from “the deepest pits of hell.”
Gov. Matt Bevin told WHAS radio on Tuesday he does not know what Jeff Hoover is referring to. Bevin added that all he will say is Hoover’s decision to resign as House speaker on Monday is following through on what Hoover said he would do and Bevin applauds him for it.
Hoover had announced his resignation in November, shortly after acknowledging he signed a secret sexual harassment settlement with a woman who once worked for the House Republican Caucus. But Hoover did not officially resign until Monday, one week into the 2018 legislative session.
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3:30 p.m.
Jeff Hoover is not going quietly.
The former GOP House speaker in Kentucky, who resigned Monday because he said he did not want to be a distraction in the aftermath of signing a secret sexual harassment settlement, tried to force a vote on a change to House rules on Tuesday that could make it more difficult for lawmakers to discipline each other.
Hoover’s proposed rule: If lawmakers seek expulsion of another lawmaker and are unsuccessful, they must pay the costs incurred by the lawmaker accused of misconduct.
Acting House Speaker David Osborne initially ruled the House would vote on Hoover’s proposal but later ruled the proposal was out of order.
Eight Republicans have filed formal disciplinary charges against Hoover, asking a bipartisan committee to recommend removing him from the House.
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3:10 a.m.
Kentucky’s Republican House speaker has resigned his leadership post, declaring he did not want the secret sexual harassment settlement he signed to be a distraction from the chamber’s legislative work.
But he also said during his announcement Monday that the state’s Republican governor was spreading lies about him from the “deepest pits of Hell” and vowed to exact revenge from the staffers and lawmakers he says orchestrated his demise, “regardless of who they are and the position they hold.”
His fiery speech left some in the House wondering how the scandal would not continue to distract from the legislature’s business. House Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne insisted the scandal has not slowed down the legislature’s work.
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