In the wake of recent developments around Federal Election Commission rules, Senator Kelly Ayotte is calling on Representative Frank Guinta to step down.
Ayotte says she spoke with Guinta over the weekend, telling him, "if she was in his position she would resign."
Guinta has been fined $15,000 and must pay back the more than $355,000 his parents contributed to his 2010 campaign.
N.H. Senate President Chuck Morse along with N.H. House Speaker Shawn Jasper are also calling for his resignation.
Jasper said in a statement issued Monday that although he has been a long-time supporter of the congressman, "the documentation and explanation of the source of his campaign contributions, and the accounting of any taxes that may have been paid, simply don’t add up. As a result, the congressman should do what I believe would be in the best interest of the people of the first congressional district and step down from his position in the United States Congress. “
Guinta is standing by his assertion that the money was his, not his parents, and that he has an "equitable interest" in the accounts on which his parents' checks were drawn. Adding that he settled with the FEC merely to put the issue behind him.
In a statement issued out Monday, Guinta says "he understands Senator Ayotte's disappointment," adding that he has "been proactive in showing documentation proving the assets in question were mine."