Police investigate whether Republican was victim of revenge porn after nude selfie emerges online

Mr Barton is one of the most senior members of the House of Representatives

Republican Representative Joe Barton (Photo by Mike Stone/Getty Images)

The release of a nude photo of Republican congressman Joe Barton could be investigated by police after the politician raised the possibility that he was a victim of “revenge porn”.

The image, posted to an anonymous Twitter account, quickly began circulating online.

Mr Barton said the United States Capitol Police - the federal law enforcement agency charged with protecting the United States Congress - had "reached out to me and offered to launch an investigation and I have accepted".

The representative from Texas added he could not comment further "because of the pending investigation".

The Independent has contacted the Capitol Police to ask about their the investigation but was unable to reach anyone on the force.

In his first statement after the photo was released, Mr Barton told the Texas Tribune that the women we was involved with in the past were above the age of consent and willing participants.

“While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women,” said the 68-year-old.

“Each was consensual,” he added. “Those relationships have ended. I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days. I am sorry that I let my constituents down.”

Mr Barton in 2015 is said to have warned at least one of the women that he would report her to Capitol Police if she released sexually explicit material he sent to her during their relationship.

The woman shared a recorded phone call of the conversation with the Washington Post. She spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity.

Mr Barton reportedly told the woman: “I would tell them that I had a three-year undercover relationship with you over the Internet that was heavily sexual and that I had met you twice while married and had sex with you on two different occasions and that I exchanged inappropriate photographs and videos with you that I wouldn’t like to be seen made public, that you still apparently had all of those and were in position to use them in a way that would negatively affect my career. That’s the truth.”

Mr Barton’s office said the phone call shared with the Post may be evidence that a crime has been committed against him.

Revenge porn - when sexually explicit images are posted online without a person’s consent - was outlawed in Texas in 2015.

“The Dallas Morning News has identified a potential crime against me and the transcript referenced in the Washington Post may be evidence,” Mr Barton said in a statement.

He repeated that the relationship was consensual.

“This woman admitted that we had a consensual relationship,” he said. “When I ended that relationship, she threatened to publicly share my private photographs and intimate correspondence in retaliation. As the transcript reflects, I offered to take the matter to the Capitol Hill Police to open an investigation.”

Mr Barton, first elected to Congress in 1984, formerly led the powerful Energy and Commerce committee in the House of Representatives. He currently serves as vice chairman on that committee.