JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri House Speaker John Diehl apologized Wednesday for his "poor judgment" following a newspaper report that he had exchanged sexually charged text messages with a college student who was serving as a Capitol intern.
While asking for forgiveness, Diehl also appealed to his colleagues to retain their support as Democrats launched an effort to try to remove the Republican from the chamber's top position, which he was elected to in January.
"I take full responsibility for my actions and am truly sorry to those I let down," Diehl said in a written statement, released after he had secluded himself in his Capitol office for about five hours. "I apologize for the poor judgment I displayed that put me and those closest to me in this situation."
Earlier Wednesday, The Kansas City Star released a story accompanied by screenshots of apparent electronic messages between Diehl and a college student who was a Capitol intern. The messages included some sexually suggestive discussions and revealed what The Star described as a "flirty rapport" suggesting an intimate relationship.
The revelations about Diehl came as lawmakers - already tense and tired - are working toward a Friday deadline to pass legislation. Diehl skipped the final vote Wednesday on a highly contentious priority of GOP leaders that would make Missouri a right-to-work state banning mandatory union fees.
Six of the House's top Democrats released a statement Wednesday evening calling upon Diehl to "resign the post of House speaker without further delay."
Diehl's statement did not specifically mention the text messages but expressed regret.
"The buck stops here. I ask for forgiveness. I will begin immediately working to restore the trust of those closest to me, and getting back to the important work that is required in the final days of session," Diehl said.
The intern, who no longer works at the Capitol, declined to comment Wednesday and referred The Associated Press to attorney Phil Willoughby, a former Democratic state House member. Willoughby said he was asked by the intern and her family to handle media calls but was not representing her in any legal matters. He said she wouldn't be making any statements.
She "is not interested in being at the center of any political debate concerning her internship or the workings of the state Capitol," Willoughby said.
Following the Star's report, Democratic state Rep. Gina Mitten announced on the House floor that she was seeking signatures on a petition calling for a vote to remove Diehl as speaker pending a full investigation into allegations of misconduct.
"I do not believe that our present speaker should be at the dais while we have this dark cloud over the Capitol," said Mitten, of the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, described Diehl's conduct toward the intern as "clearly inappropriate and troubling."
But others continued to back Diehl's leadership.
"I fully support him, and I assume that most House Republicans will stand with him," said Rep. Tony Dugger, a Republican from Hartville.
Diehl, 49, is an attorney who lives with his wife and three sons in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country. He was first elected to the House in 2008.
Richard Miller, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Missouri Southern State University, told The Star that the school pulled its four interns out of the state Capitol this spring after an unspecified incident, which he declined to describe more specifically.
"Usually, when something happens, it is a problem with the interns themselves, but that was not the situation this year," Miller told the newspaper.
The Star reported that it obtained the electronic messages after the internship program ended. The newspaper reported that it contacted Diehl on April 24 seeking comment. The newspaper said Diehl backed out of an interview a week later and that his staff offered last Friday to deliver records for both his personal cellphone and another cellphone paid for by his law firm, Husch Blackwell.
It took the staff several days to produce those records, which showed just six text messages sent from the intern to Diehl. The Star said the records show only a log of conventional text messages. But the newspaper reported that the messages it obtained show conversations over Apple's iMessage platform.
Earlier version of story below
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A series of apparent electronic messages suggest that Missouri House Speaker John Diehl had a sexually charged relationship with a college student serving as a Capitol intern, The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday.
The Star released screenshots of the apparent messages that show several flirtatious discussions, some of which were sexually suggestive. The Star said the screenshots show Diehl's business cellphone number and that it obtained the messages after the internship program for Missouri Southern State University was abruptly shut down earlier this spring.
The Associated Press couldn't verify the authenticity of the messages. The intern, who is not named in the story, had denied to the newspaper that the messages were authentic.
Diehl, a Republican who was elected to the chamber's top position in January, declined to make any immediate comment Wednesday to the AP but said he would make a statement later.
The former intern believed to be the subject of the story declined to comment Wednesday and referred the AP to attorney Philip Willoughby, a former Democratic state House member.
Willoughby declined to confirm whether the intern had exchanged messages with Diehl and said she wouldn't be making any statements. Willoughby said he was asked by the intern and her family to handle media calls but was not representing her in any legal matters.
She "is not interested in being at the center of any political debate concerning her internship or the workings of the state Capitol," Willoughby said.
Following the Star's report, Democratic state Rep. Gina Mitten announced on the House floor that she was seeking signatures on a petition calling for a vote to remove Diehl as speaker pending a full investigation into allegations of misconduct.
"I do not believe that our present speaker should be at the dais while we have this dark cloud over the Capitol," said Mitten, of the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights.
But others continued to back Diehl's leadership.
"I fully support him, and I assume that most House Republicans will stand with him," said Rep. Tony Dugger, a Republican from Hartville.
Diehl, 49, is an attorney who lives with his wife and three sons in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country. He was first elected to the House in 2008.
The Star reported (http://bit.ly/1HdMa26) that multiple sources, which it did not identify, confirmed that the screenshots of the messages that show Diehl's business cellphone number originated from the intern's smartphone.
Richard Miller, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Missouri Southern, told The Star that the school pulled its four interns out of the state Capitol this spring after an unspecified incident, which he declined to describe more specifically.
"Usually, when something happens, it is a problem with the interns themselves, but that was not the situation this year," Miller told the newspaper.
The interns lived in Jefferson City and worked 35 hours a week for various lawmakers. They have been reassigned to law offices and political action organizations in the state, Miller said.
The Star reported that it obtained the electronic messages after the internship program ended. The newspaper said Diehl was contacted April 24 about the exchanges and, through a staff member, asked to see the messages before he would comment. The Star reported that it shared the messages with Diehl within minutes of that request, and he declined to comment publicly.
A week later, on May 1, Diehl agreed through his staff to talk on the record with a reporter, the Star reported. But the newspaper said he backed out of that arrangement. The paper said that Diehl's staff offered Friday to deliver records for both his personal cellphone and another cellphone paid for by his law firm, Husch Blackwell. It then took the staff several days to produce those records, which showed just six text messages sent from the intern to Diehl.
The Star said the records show only a log of conventional text messages.
But the newspaper reported that the messages it obtained and presented last month to Diehl show conversations over Apple's iMessage platform. It reported that texts on iMessage wouldn't show up on a cellphone record unless they were sent or received when no Wi-Fi or mobile Internet connection is available.
Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com