Scott DesJarlais Fundraiser Gets Backing From Prominent GOP Colleagues

A group of prominent Republican congressmen will hold a fundraiser for scandal-plagued Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Wednesday.

DesJarlais was pushed into the national spotlight in 2012 when details of his unscrupulous past surfaced during his reelection campaign. In October, The Huffington Post reported that the anti-abortion rights congressman had had an affair with a patient and pressured her to have an abortion. During the 2001 divorce proceedings, it was also revealed that DesJarlais had encouraged his wife to have two abortions before their marriage.

Nevertheless, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), John Kline (R-Minn.) and Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) -- all powerful House committee chairmen -- have agreed to help the congressman raise money to stay in Congress.

Despite the scandal, DesJarlais won reelection in November. His political future is uncertain, however, as a cadre of state legislators and former DesJarlais fundraisers in Tennessee have already publicly supported state Sen. Jim Tracy (R), who announced his candidacy earlier this year, in a primary challenge.