U.S. lawmaker caught looking at porn on Senate floor

Busted: Senator Mike Bennett looks at his computer screen - on which there is an image of topless women - while on the Senate floor during the debate of an abortion bill

'I was bored': Mike Bennett (file photo) claimed the image was in an email that he unwittingly opened from a colleague

In his flimsy defence, he was bored.

Unfortunately for Florida Senator Mike Bennett, that's just not a good enough reason to be looking at pictures of topless women while on the Senate floor.

Especially not while using his state-issued computer.

And especially not while a colleague is arguing that the law currently being debated is 'disrespectful towards women'.



Even if you do get caught in such a situation, you really shouldn't threaten the reporter who ran the story - trust us, it is just going to make matters worse.
But all these factors have collided in a perfect storm of scandal for the Republican lawmaker.

Sunshine State News reporter Lance Wright spotted video footage of the senator looking at the image of topless women on Thursday.

The footage shows the senator tilting his screen forward before closing down the image, tilting his screen back again.

Just to add to the poignancy of the moment, in the background Senator Dan Gelber's voice can be heard debating a controversial abortion bill.

'I'm against this bill,' Mr Gelber can be heard saying, 'because it disrespects too many women in the state of Florida.'

Indeed.

Later, Mr Bennett is also filmed watching what appears to be YouTube footage of a dog.
When approached by the reporter, Mr Bennett said he was sent the pornographic image in an email from a woman 'who happens to be a former court administrator'.

'I was just sitting there, bored as they were debating the abortion bill,' Mr Bennett said.

'I opened it up and said holy s***! What's on my screen? and clicked away from it right away,' he told the Sunshine State News.

A Senate spokesman said Mr Bennett had thought the email was relating to the abortion bill.

It is unclear if he thought the video of the dog was also in relation to the bill.

He refused to show the Sunshine State News the original email on his computer after consulting with the Senate's top lawyer.

And when asked if he would ever watch porn on the Senate floor, he replied: 'You'd have to be insane to do that. It all goes through a server. I don't think anybody would be doing that.'

In an email to the Sunshine State News he wrote: 'Last Friday, I took a moment to check my personal email account during a quiet minute on the Senate floor. I received several emails from a former city colleague and life-long friend.

'I had no prior knowledge as to what the emails would contain and when the contents of one was discovered to be less than appropriate, it was promptly closed.

'I cannot control what individuals may send me and am disappointed that at a time when there are major issues impacting Florida, an insignificant issue such as this receives any attention.'

Sunshine State News columnist Nancy Smith wrote in response: 'I would like to have asked, if the ultrasound issue under discussion on the Senate floor during the bikini-babe download wasn't a significant enough issue to receive his attention, what was?'

When the Sunshine State News published the story, Mr Bennett was reportedly furious.

'He telephoned [reporter] Lane Wright in a rage, promising to make sure he never works in the Capitol again,' Ms Smith wrote.

Mr Bennett is due to announce that he will be running for Congress in two weeks.