Alaska attorney general resigns after sending inappropriate texts to state employee

Kevin Clarkson.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) announced on Tuesday that he has accepted the resignation of Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson (R), after he "admitted to conduct in the workplace that did not live up to our high expectations."

Clarkson admitted to sending inappropriate text messages to the personal phone of a junior state employee, who was not in his chain of command but did interact with him. ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News report that Clarkson sent more than 550 text messages to the unnamed woman, inviting her to his home at least 18 times and regularly using the kiss emoji. On March 26, he allegedly told the woman, "Haven't seen you in awhile, so you owe me a number of hugs." A few days later, on April 4, the woman reportedly told Clarkson he needed to respect her boundaries and "please remember this is my personal phone."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.