Farenthold, Former Staffer Resolve Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

The litigation is over for U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold. 

A former staffer's sexual harassment lawsuit against his office ended when both parties "agreed to dismiss the case after several months of court-facilitated mediation," according to a National Law Journal report.  

Both the former staffer, Lauren Greene, and Farenthold's office filed a joint court document Wednesday stating "the action shall be dismissed." 

The terms of the agreement are not clear. 

"From the very beginning, I adamantly denied any wrongdoing and am glad to put this behind me and move forward," Farenthold said in a written statement. "Recent events have reminded us all that these are very serious times that require very serious leadership and my focus is on where it belongs — doing my job." 

Greene's attorney was not immediately available for comment Thursday morning. 

The resolution marks a legal end to an embarrassing episode for the Corpus Christi Republican as he looks to re-election next year. 

In September,  one of the House investigative arms, the Office of Congressional Ethics, recommended dismissing an investigation into the issue. There are no signs at this point that the House Ethics Committee, a different entity run by members of Congress, will halt its own investigation into Farenthold. 

It’s been a year of unsavory headlines for Farenthold, first elected in 2010. But he appears on track to coast to re-election. So far, no well-funded challengers have filed to run against him.

The candidate filing deadline is Dec. 14.