Rep. Joe Barton said he is considering his political future, after announcing plans to seek reelection just three weeks ago. | Mike Stone/Getty Images GOP congressman Barton apologizes for nude selfie

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) admitted Wednesday that a nude picture of him circulating online is authentic and apologized to his constituents. Hours later, the congressman said Capitol Police is investigating whether the publication of the explicit photo online was a possible crime.

The incident is an embarrassing chapter in the long congressional career of Barton, 68, who was first elected to the House in 1984.


“While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women,” Barton, 68, said in a statement first reported by the Texas Tribune. “Each was consensual. 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.”

A spokesman later told the Dallas Morning News that he has no plans to step down.

Later Wednesday, the Washington Post reported a recording of a 2015 conversation in which Barton threatened to report her to the Capitol Police to protect himself after their relationship had ended. She also told the newspaper that she had received explicit material from the congressman during a relationship that lasted several years.

"I will be completely straight with you. I am ready if I have to, I don’t want to, but I should take all this crap to the Capitol Hill Police and have them launch an investigation," Barton said, according to the Post.

In response, Barton said: "The Dallas Morning News has identified a potential crime against me and the transcript referenced in the Washington Post may be evidence."

Barton, one of the House’s most conservative members, began representing the Dallas suburbs in 1985. Barton’s statement came just days after the Dallas Morning News ran an upbeat profile under the headline “Why Rep. Joe Barton sticks around as other Texans kiss Congress goodbye.”

“I’m the odd duck who didn’t quit,” he told the newspaper just weeks after a handful of other veteran Texas lawmakers announced their retirements. “Shows how much sense I have.”

In a reelection announcement in early November, Barton, a former chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, said he hoped to continue to work on the issues he’s pursued throughout his career.

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“Much work remains in Washington and I hope to carry on the torch for the 6th District,” he said.

Barton's uncertain future follows a Texas exodus that began when GOP Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Lamar Smith announced plans to exit at the end of their terms. Smith, like Barton, started his congressional career in the 1980s; Hensarling started serving in 2003. Rep. Ted Poe, another Texas Republican who's been in Congress since 2005, also announced his retirement earlier this month.

Barton is one of just 10 remaining House Republicans who began his tenure in the 1980s, and he’s the fifth-longest-serving Republican overall. He’s been a leading conservative voice on energy policy and is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Over the years, Barton has infuriated critics with his skepticism of climate science and his swipe at the Obama administration in 2010 for what he called a “shakedown” of oil giant BP after its massive Gulf of Mexico spill.

The Texas lawmaker and two of his four children were also on the field of a congressional GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia in June when a gunman opened fire, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and sending dozens of lawmakers, aides and friends scurrying for safety. Barton’s 10-year-old son Jack hid under a nearby truck until Capitol Police rushed the shooter, and then was shielded by lawmakers and aides in the first-base dugout until the gunman was taken down.

If Barton retires, his district, one of the most reliably red in the country, is likely to remain in Republican hands. Since 1984, Barton has never earned less than 56 percent of the vote and has earned more than 60 percent in 13 of his 17 elections.