Former Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, who resigned in the aftermath of a sex harassment settlement, said Tuesday he will not reimburse taxpayers for the $84,000 in public funds used to resolve the 2014 lawsuit, ABC News reported.
Farenthold told the news outlet his lawyers advised him not to repay the Treasury Department for the settlement amount.
"I will say this on the record: I have been advised by my attorneys not to repay that," Farenthold told ABC News. "That's why it hasn't been repaid."
The former lawmaker has denied wrongdoing in the 2014 case, in which his former communications director accused him of making inappropriate comments that aimed to see if she was interested in a sexual relationship.
Farenthold left Congress last month amid an ethics probe into his conduct.
He had previously vowed to repay the $84,000 settlement.
"I want to be clear that I didn't do anything wrong," Farenthold told KRIS 6 News in December. "But I also don't want the taxpayers to be on the hook for this, and I want to be able to talk about it and fix the system without people saying, 'Blake, you benefited from this system.'"
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