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Rep. Joe Barton apologizes after explicit photo circulates online

Barton, the vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he had sexual relationships with "other mature adult women" while separated from his second wife before their 2015 divorce.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, talks about the attack on the Republican congressional baseball team in June. An explicit photo of him has been circulating online, prompting an apology.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, talks about the attack on the Republican congressional baseball team in June. An explicit photo of him has been circulating online, prompting an apology.Read moreJ. Scott Applewhite / AP
    by Elise Viebeck and Mike DeBonis, Washington Post
    Published 

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) apologized Wednesday after an explicit photo of him was posted to an anonymous Twitter account and began to circulate online.

Barton, the vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he had sexual relationships with "other mature adult women" while separated from his second wife before their 2015 divorce.

"Each was consensual," he said of the relationships in a statement. "Those relationships have ended. I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days. I am sorry that I let my constituents down."

The photo circulating of Barton shows him in a compromising position. Though parts of the photo are covered, he appears to be naked.

The statement did not explain the origins of the photo or who posted it, which remained unclear Wednesday.

The apology comes amid a wave of sexual harassment allegations on Capitol Hill, in media and in entertainment.