When Rep. Blake Farenthold (R–Texas) abruptly resigned nearly two weeks ago, the exact reason for the Texas congressman’s sudden departure wasn’t altogether clear. Farenthold essentially disappeared, taking down his public social media pages on Twitter and Facebook, as he resigned effective immediately. Farenthold had already announced in December he would not run again for his seat after facing intense scrutiny for a previously undisclosed $84,000 taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlement with a former-aide who sued Farenthold in 2014 for gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and a hostile work environment. But why bolt now?

The answer came from HuffPo Tuesday, which reported that Farenthold’s accelerated timeline, tendering his immediate resignation, came after he was tipped off that the House Ethics Committee was about to rule against the Texas congressman in its months-long probe, which would lead to the disclosure of its presumably unflattering findings. But now?

From HuffPo:

The committee issued a statement last week announcing that its probe into Farenthold was over since he resigned, but indicated it had informed him on March 30 that it had scheduled a vote on a “Statement of Alleged Violation” to occur on April 11. Farenthold resigned on April 6. If he hadn’t quit, the committee would have voted to approve its document outlining the charges against Farenthold and then created a new subcommittee to hold a public hearing on the alleged violations. It’s not clear what Farenthold’s penalty would have been if the committee finished out its process. It might have required him to pay back the $84,000 in taxpayer money he spent to settle a previous sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former female aide.

“His departure, which was weird and involved him immediately deleting his Twitter and Facebook accounts, means an ongoing probe into his behavior by the House Ethics Committee was cut short,” HuffPo reported last week. “Whatever his colleagues may have found in their investigation to date is now locked away in a vault.” Farenthold has maintained his innocence, but the settlement paid on his behalf by the Office of Compliance, once uncovered, sparked national outrage over how sexual harassment allegations against members of congress are handled and, ultimately, paid for.