In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Q: FILE - In this March 24, 2017, file photo, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. speaks with a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington. Franks says he is resigning Jan. 31 amid a House Ethics Committee investigation... (Associated Press) 
  
 FILE - In this March 24, 2017, file photo, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. speaks with a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington. Franks says he is resigning Jan. 31 amid a House Ethics Committee investigation of possible sexual harassment. Franks says in a statement that he never physically intimidated,... (Associated Press) 
  
 FILE - In this March 24, 2017, file photo, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. speaks with a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington. Franks says he is resigning Jan. 31 amid a House Ethics Committee investigation of possible sexual harassment. Franks says in a statement that he never physically intimidated,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this March 24, 2017, file photo, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. speaks with a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington. Franks says he is resigning Jan. 31 amid a House Ethics Committee investigation... (Associated Press) 
  
 WASHINGTON (AP) — A former aide to Republican Rep. Trent Franks has told The Associated Press the congressman repeatedly pressed her to carry his child, at one point offering her $5 million to act as a surrogate mother. 
  
 The eight-term lawmaker abruptly resigned Friday, bowing to an ultimatum from House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Ryan told Franks that he would refer the allegations to the Ethics Committee and urged him to step aside. 
  
 The former staffer said the congressman at least four times asked if she'd be willing to act as a surrogate in exchange for money. Franks, in his statement announcing his resignation, said he and his wife, who have struggled with infertility, have twins who were carried through surrogacy. 
  
 The former aide said the conversations took place in private, sometimes in the congressman's car, and that she repeatedly told him she wasn't interested. She said she never filed a formal complaint because until recently she didn't know where to go, but that his behavior had made her feel uncomfortable. 
  
 The Associated Press verified the identity of the staffer and confirmed that she worked in Franks' office. She asked that her name be withheld out of concern for her privacy,. 
  
 "During my time there, I was asked a few times to look over a 'contract' to carry his child, and if I would conceive his child, I would be given $5 million," she said, adding that she refused to look over the contract and has never seen a copy. 
  
 The woman said the requests shocked her, and made her feel afraid that if she didn't agree, she would face professional consequences. She said she spoke to another aide in the office, who had also been approached about surrogacy. 
  
 The aide cited the surrogacy requests as "a main reason" for leaving the office, adding that she felt retaliated against after turning down the congressman, ignored by Franks and not given many assignments. 
  
 A spokesman for Franks would not comment on whether the congressman offered aides money in exchange to act as surrogates. 
  
 Franks, a staunch conservative, said in his statement Thursday that he never physically intimidated, coerced or attempted to have sexual contact with any member of his congressional staff. 
  
 Franks, 60, said he had become familiar with the surrogacy process in recent years and "became insensitive as to how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others." 
  
 He said he regrets that his "discussion of this option and process in the workplace" with two female staffers made them feel uncomfortable. 
  
 Ryan on Thursday said in a statement that he was briefed on the allegations last week, and found them to be "serious and requiring action." 
  
 Ryan said that he presented Franks with the allegations, "which he did not deny," and filed them with the House Committee on Ethics. 
  
 A senior congressional official said Ryan's general counsel was contacted about two weeks ago by someone with information about "troubling behavior" by Franks involving a former staffer. Ryan's lawyer interviewed two women with similar complaints and verified them through a third party. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the deliberations. 
  
 Andrea Lafferty, President of Traditional Values Coalition, said she is the one who reported Franks' conduct to the speaker's office. Lafferty told AP that the former aide came to her about a year ago and told her about the surrogacy requests. Lafferty said she contacted Ryan's office last month, after the staffer agreed to discuss the incident with leadership. 
  
 "I was approached last year about the situation, she came to me wanting some advice about how to handle this. She came to me shaking and sobbing, and she shared a story that I think is horrific, a powerful man hiring young women, procuring staff, to potentially surrogate children for him," Lafferty said. "I accompanied (the former aide) to the meeting in the speaker's office where she said Congressman Trent Franks offered her $5 million if she conceived him a child." 
  
 Franks' net worth of nearly $33 million makes him one of the wealthier members of Congress. While surrogacy regulations and costs vary from state to state, services typically run in the range of the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. The former aide said she never received details about payment or where the process would occur. 
  
 Franks is one of three lawmakers to step aside in a week as sexual misconduct allegations rocked the Capitol. 
  
 He said in a statement Friday: "Last night, my wife was admitted to the hospital in Washington, D.C., due to an ongoing ailment. After discussing options with my family, we came to the conclusion that the best thing for our family now would be for me to tender my previous resignation effective today, December 8th, 2017." 
  
 On Thursday, liberal Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., announced his resignation after facing allegations of sexual harassment by at least eight women. Franken said some of those accusations were false and that he remembered others differently than his accusers did. He said he'd depart in a few weeks. 
  
 On Tuesday, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., resigned effective immediately. He faced accusations from women of improper sexual behavior that he's contesting. 
  
 Franks, an abortion opponent, drew a sharp response from Democrats during a 2013 House committee debate when he said, "The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low." He sought to clarify the comment, saying later-term abortions linked to pregnancies caused by rape are infrequent. 
  
 Franks is a strong backer of President Donald Trump, represents a district encompassing suburbs north and west of Phoenix. 
  
 Before winning election to Congress, he served in the Arizona Legislature and founded the Arizona Family Research Institute, an organization associated with Dr. James Dobson's "Focus on the Family." 
  
 ___ 
  
 Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Anita Snow and David Crary contributed to this report. ||||| New details about the controversy surrounding Rep. Trent Franks come as sexual harassment allegations have engulfed Capitol Hill. He became the third lawmaker this week alone to announce that he will step down after being accused of sexual misconduct. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Female aides fretted Franks wanted to have sex to impregnate them The congressman was seeking a pregnancy surrogate, and aides said he approached them for the assignment. 
  
 Arizona Rep. Trent Franks allegedly made unwanted advances toward female staffers in his office and retaliated against one who rebuffed him, according to House GOP sources with knowledge of a complaint against him. 
  
 The allegations, which reached Speaker Paul Ryan and top GOP leaders in recent days, led to Franks' sudden resignation this week. Franks originally announced that he would resign on Jan. 31, 2018. But just hours after POLITICO inquired about the allegations, he sped up his resignation and left office Friday. 
  
 Story Continued Below 
  
 The sources said Franks approached two female staffers about acting as a potential surrogate for him and his wife, who has struggled with fertility issues for years. But the aides were concerned that Franks was asking to have sexual relations with them. It was not clear to the women whether he was asking about impregnating the women through sexual intercourse or in vitro fertilization. Franks opposes abortion rights as well as procedures that discard embryos. 
  
 A former staffer also alleged that Franks tried to persuade a female aide that they were in love by having her read an article that described how a person knows they’re in love with someone, the sources said. One woman believed she was the subject of retribution after rebuffing Franks. While she enjoyed access to the congressman before the incident, that access was revoked afterward, she told Republican leaders. 
  
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 Franks denied all of the allegations through a spokesperson on Friday. In a statement Thursday, Franks acknowledged discussing surrogacy with his staffers and apologized for making them feel uncomfortable. But he said he “absolutely never physically intimidated, coerced, or had, or attempted to have, any sexual contact with any member of my congressional staff." 
  
 Also on Friday, the Associated Press reported that Franks offered to pay an aide $5 million to carry his child and pressured her relentlessly on the matter. 
  
 New details about the controversy surrounding Franks come as sexual harassment allegations have engulfed Capitol Hill. Franks became the third lawmaker this week alone to announce that he will step down after being accused of sexual misconduct, following Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). 
  
 House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) personally hastened Franks' departure, which the congressman said would be in late January but which on Friday he said would take effect immediately. Two weeks ago, a person contacted Ryan’s general counsel about “troubling” behavior by Franks directed at a former staffer. Ryan’s staff then reached out to the former staffer to verify the information in an interview conducted last week. 
  
 The staffer told her story and detailed alleged misconduct by Franks about another staffer, which a third party aware of the situation verified. 
  
 Ryan was briefed on the matter, then asked Franks to resign. |||||
A: 
A former aide says Rep. Trent Franks offered her $5 million to act as a surrogate for he and his wife, the AP reports. And according to Politico, sources say female staffers were unclear if the Arizona Republican was suggesting in vitro fertilization or actual intercourse when he made the pitch. Franks announced his resignation Thursday ahead of a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, admitting to speaking to two female staffers about surrogacy. Now new details are leaking out. A former staffer says Franks asked her about being a surrogate at least four times, making her uncomfortable. "I was asked a few times to look over a 'contract' to carry his child, and if I would conceive his child, I would be given $5 million," she tells the AP. She says she felt retaliated against after refusing. Meanwhile, sources say the two female staffers asked about surrogacy by Franks were unclear if he was suggesting sex as part of the deal. A former staffer says in another instance Franks tried to convince a female aide that she was in love with him by giving her an article about how you know you're in love with someone. Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, says she reported allegations against Franks to House Speaker Paul Ryan in recent weeks, calling his behavior "horrific"—"a powerful man hiring young women, procuring staff, to potentially surrogate children for him." Ryan then asked Franks to resign. While Franks had said he would leave office in January, he now says he will resign Friday after his wife was hospitalized Thursday night "due to an ongoing ailment," CNN reports.