In a statement issued Friday, Ricketts said he had phoned Kintner last summer and urged him to resign "if the allegations were true."

"Due to the ongoing investigation of this issue, I have been unable to say anything publicly," Ricketts said Friday. "If the allegations are true, Senator Kintner needs to resign.”

Nebraska law forbids public officials from using their state computers for nonessential personal activity.

Democrats quickly chided the Republican governor for his handling of the situation.

"It is not enough for Sen. Kintner to resign in shame. Anyone that knew this information and continued to let him sit in office must also resign," said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman-elect of the Nebraska Democratic Party, in a text message. "Did Gov. Ricketts or his staff look the other way so they had (Kintner's) vote in the Unicameral?"

Investigators haven't described the video or said whether a permanent copy or other evidence was ever obtained.

But another senator said he contacted the State Patrol last fall after a woman offered to sell what she called a sexually explicit video of Kintner.