Republican Rep. Cory Mills said he won't resign from Congress despite allegations of misconduct and an ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee, as well as recent resignations from colleagues facing similar accusations.
"If someone can give me a good reason, I'd be more than happy to listen to it. But until we can do that, absolutely not, no — I don't plan to resign. We're going to seek re-election," Mills told press.
"Why not let the investigating body and the Ethics Committee to be able to do their jobs? And so we comply. We're very happy to see what the outcome is," Mills added.
The committee has said it is investigating allegations of "sexual misconduct and/or dating violence," as well as campaign finance violations. He is also accused of threatening to release nude videos of an ex. He has denied all of them.
However, there are lawmakers who don't want to wait until the findings. Fellow Republican Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution to expel him, saying "the swamp has protected Cory Mills for far too long and we are done letting it slide."
Three other lawmakers have resigned over the past weeks. The last one to do so was Democratic Rep. Shella Cherfilus-McCormick, who made the announcement on Tuesday.
Cherfilus-McCormick had been found guilty by the Ethics Committee of several charges, including funneling $5 million in Covid relief funds to her congressional campaign.
The committee was set to meet Tuesday to make its disciplinary recommendations, and reports had detailed that dozens of Democrats were ready to vote for her expulsion even if that was not the body's suggestion.
The now former lawmaker has denied wrongdoing and did so again when making her announcement. "This was not a fair process. The Ethics Committee refused my new attorney's reasonable request for time to prepare my defense. By going forward with this process while a criminal indictment is pending, the Committee prevented me from defending myself. I will not stand by and pretend that this has been anything other than a witch hunt. I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished," she began.
Cherfilus-McCormick went on to call for caution "about the precedent we are setting." "In this country, we do not punish people before due process is complete. We do not allow allegations alone to override the will of the people. That is a dangerous path, and one that should concern every American, regardless of party," she said.
The other lawmakers who resigned are Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales.
Swalwell had been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct from former staff members, leading to the end of his run for governor of California.
Gonzales, on his end, admitted earlier this year to having an affair with a staff member who later committed suicide. Gonzales, who was in his third term in Congress, initially resisted calls to resign but said he wouldn't seek reelection.
However, that changed when a bipartisan effort in Congress to expel both of them gained momentum. Once it became clear that there might be enough votes to actually remove them from office, both resigned.
Originally published on IBTimes
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