Following assault allegations, Alaska House Majority Coalition Leader Bryce Edgmon is calling for Rep. Zach Fansler’s resignation. But Fansler isn’t planning to step down.
“We deny the allegations. They’re not true,” said Fansler’s attorney, Wallace Tetlow of Anchorage, on Saturday afternoon. “And if charges are filed, we’ll deal with those successfully in court.”
Fansler is accused of drunkenly assaulting a woman in his hotel room when she denied his sexual advances. He allegedly pulled her hair and hit her in the face repeatedly, rupturing her eardrum. The Juneau Police Department and the Alaska Department of Law are investigating the alleged incident.
According to Fansler’s former aide, Benjamin Anderson-Agimuk, all of the representative’s staff were transferred to the House Rules Committee on Saturday evening. “He doesn’t have any more staff and they don’t answer to him anymore,” he said.
The Juneau Empire reports that Fansler apologized to the woman profusely in a text message exchange the day after the alleged assault. “I’m embarrassed and ashamed of myself,” he wrote.