Utah House Republicans say resignation appropriate
The Associated PressUtah's House Republicans say it was appropriate for a state lawmaker to resign after he acknowledged he paid a woman $150,000 to keep quiet about nude hot-tubbing a quarter century ago, when she was a minor.
Majority Leader Kevin Garn resigned Saturday after telling fellow lawmakers about the incident, which happened when he was 29 or 30 and the girl was 15.
After Garn's revelation on the last night of the legislative session, lawmakers gave him a standing ovation.
On Wednesday, House Republicans met to discuss the situation and issued a statement saying the resignation was appropriate.
Garn told colleagues he paid the woman, now 40, $150,000 to keep quiet after she began contacting reporters during his unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2002.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com