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US Rep. Andrews resigning from Congress

349222_Rep. Rob Andrews

Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) will resign from Congress this month to take a job at a prominent law firm in Philadelphia, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A source close to Andrews informed the paper about the news. The congressman has scheduled a press conference Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at his district office in Haddon Heights, N.J.

Andrews, 56, has served in Congress for 24 years, and will resign sometime around President’s Day weekend, the report says.

The congressman is leaving the Capitol to take a public affairs job at the law firm, according to the newspaper’s source.

New Jersey could set this seat’s special election dates to coincide with dates already scheduled for the regular primary and general elections. Andrews’ seat is in a heavily democratic district, and would likely remain that way.

In 2008, Andrews ran against the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in the primary, but lost. Andrews’s wife, meanwhile, had won the primary to replace him. For the general election, however, the congressman was able to instead have his name on the ballot, and won a full term in Congress again.

While it’s unclear why Andrews is choosing to leave Congress just about a month into the second legislative session, a pending ethics investigation into his campaign finances could be a factor.

The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Andrews for nearly a year after he allegedly used campaign funds to pay for personal trips to Scotland and Los Angeles. He also has been accused of using his daughter’s graduation party to raise money for his campaign.

The congressman’s campaign committee has been spending more than $200,000 on a legal defense team to help him in the inquiry, according to The Courier-Post, a newspaper in southern New Jersey.

According to the report, Andrews for Congress has paid the firm about $205,000 since December, 2011.

A report released in 2012 showed the congressman had initially paid for airplane tickets for himself, his wife and his two daughters that were worth $16,500. Andrews later used funds from his leadership PAC to pay for them.

In October, CBS’s “60 Minutes” asked the congressman for an interview, but he didn’t respond. Instead, host Steve Kroft showed up at a hearing Andrews attended.

“I followed the rules, met the standards,” Andrews told Kroft about the investigation at the time, and said he couldn’t say anything more because “my obligation is not to talk about a pending matter.”

Kroft said the House Ethics Committee told him they were fine with Andrews answering questions, but the congressman continued to refuse to comment

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