GROSS

Ex-Aide: Trent Franks Offered Me $5M to Carry His Child

Female aides say it was unclear whether he was simply proposing to have sex.

A former aide to Republican Rep. Trent Franks claims he repeatedly asked her to carry his child, allegedly offering her $5 million at one point. Franks abruptly resigned Friday amid a U.S. House ethics probe and his wife’s hospitalization. According to the Associated Press, that same ex-aide claimed Franks pressed her at least four times to act as a surrogate in exchange for money. Additionally, Politico reported, that former female aides were concerned the surrogacy proposal was simply Franks asking to have sexual relations with them. “It was not clear to the women whether he was asking about impregnating the women through sexual intercourse or in vitro fertilization,” the outlet reported. “A former staffer also alleged that Franks tried to persuade a female aide that they were in love by having her read an article that described how a person knows they’re in love with someone, the sources said. One woman believed she was the subject of retribution after rebuffing Franks. While she enjoyed access to the congressman before the incident, that access was revoked afterward, she told Republican leaders.”