WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Wichita city councilman who has been under fire for his role in a plot to frame the local GOP chairman for a false ad against a mayoral candidate has resigned.
James Clendenin said Tuesday in a written statement that had “become a distraction” and that his resignation was taking effect Dec. 31.
“It would be selfish and unproductive for me to continue in my council position if other events in any way diverted attention from the important city work that must go on,” he wrote.
Last month, the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office filed a civil petition seeking the ouster of Clendenin.
At issue is a recording made in November 2019, just two days before then-Democratic state Rep. Brandon Whipple won the Wichita mayor’s race. On the recording, Clendenin and two other men - former Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell and former state Rep Michael Capps - could be heard plotting to frame Sedgwick County’s GOP chairman for a YouTube ad that falsely suggested Whipple was accused of sexual harassment while serving in the Legislature.
O’Donnell resigned last month after the local district attorney concluded there was sufficient evidence to begin proceedings to oust him. Capps lost his bid for reelection.
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