WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California, who is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal, said Thursday he’ll retire from Congress at the end of his current term.
Doolittle, in his ninth term, faced growing pressure from fellow Republicans who considered him a liability because of his involvement, along with his wife, in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation. He has denied wrongdoing in his ties to Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist whom he considered a close friend. But after the FBI raided the congressman’s Virginia home in April looking for information about event-planning work that Doolittle’s wife did for Abramoff, the congressman was forced to step down from the powerful Appropriations Committee.
A flurry of grand jury subpoenas to the congressman and his aides followed. Doolittle is contesting subpoenas for his congressional records.
