WASHINGTON _ Connecticut Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty has decided not to run for re-election, she announced via Facebook on Monday.
Esty faced bipartisan criticism over the weekend after multiple news outlets reported her questionable handling of a former top aide who battered, threatened and sexually harassed a female employee in her office.
"I have determined that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election," she said on Facebook.
"Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace. In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better," she wrote.
"To the survivor, I want to express my strongest apology for letting you down. In Congress, and workplaces across the country, we need stronger workplace protections and to provide employees with a platform to raise concerns, address problems, and work to reduce and eliminate such occurrences, in the first place. In my final months in Congress, I will use my power to fight for action and meaningful change," she added.
Esty's decision to retire at the end of her term could open up a potentially competitive race in Connecticut's 5th District, which Hillary Clinton carried by 4 points in 2016. The National Republican Congressional Committee had previously targeted Esty's seat and could redouble its efforts with no incumbent in the race to defend it.
Esty was also part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline program, which supports vulnerable incumbents.
According to reports that broke Thursday, it took Esty three months in 2016 to fire her former chief of staff, Tony Baker, after she first learned he had repeatedly harassed and even left a death threat over voicemail to one of his subordinates in Esty's office, Anna Kain. Baker and Kain had previously dated.
"Ms. Kain is to be commended for her courage in coming forward and telling her story," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Monday before Esty announced her retirement. "As Congresswoman Esty has acknowledged, her actions did not protect Ms. Kain and should have. Congresswoman Esty has now appropriately requested an expedited review by the Ethics Committee."
A week after learning of the allegations against Baker in May 2016, Esty launched an internal review.
That process revealed that the "threat of violence was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of behavior that victimized many of the women" on her staff, she said.
But instead of firing Baker, Esty kept him on her payroll for three months; paid him $5,000 in severance from her congressional fund; signed a nondisclosure agreement about the reasons Baker was no longer with her office; and even co-authored a recommendation letter touting Baker's "considerable skills" that he used to land a job as Ohio director of the gun control group Sandy Hook Promise.
Esty has personally reimbursed the U.S. Treasury for the $5,000 in severance, the Connecticut Post reported.
Earlier Monday, Esty had requested the House Ethics Committee conduct an inquiry into whether she "violated any law, rule, regulation or other standard of conduct applicable to a Member of the House."
"It certainly was far from a perfect process _ and I would appreciate their advice, counsel, and review," she said in a letter. "I have apologized for my mistakes in the handling of this matter. I feel terribly for the victim of abuse. In seeking this inquiry, I want to clarify whether there was any wrongdoing on my part."
