According to the Guardian, the 61-year-old official had been under investigation for alleged inappropriate behavior towards Kate Maltby, a journalist, in 2015 and claims that "extreme pornography" had been found on his work computer. The explicit material was reportedly found on the computer in 2008.
In response to Green's resignation, May released a statement saying that she was "extremely sad," but that she ultimately "accepted" his departure.
— Ashley Cowburn (@ashcowburn) December 20, 2017
Though Green denied suggestions that he made unwanted advances toward Maltby and that he viewed pornography on his office computer, the cabinet investigation ultimately concluded that his repeated denials of the computer findings were "inaccurate and misleading" and that the Maltby allegations were "plausible."
In his resignation letter, Green accepted the investigation's conclusion and apologized this his "statements were misleading."
"I accept that I should have been clear in my press statements that police lawyers talked to my lawyers in 2008 about the pornography on the computers, and that the police raised it with me in a subsequent phone call in 2013," Green said in his letter. "The unfounded and deeply hurtful allegations that were being leveled at me were distressing both to me and my family and it is right that these are being investigated by the Metropolitan police's professional standards department."
"I deeply regret the distress caused to Kate Maltby following her article about me and the reaction to it. I did not recognize the events she described in her article, but I clearly made her feel uncomfortable and for this I apologize," it read.
Green is only the latest cabinet member to resign over sexual misconduct. Michael Fallon, the UK's former defense secretary, resigned from his post amid harassment allegations centered around journalist Julia Hartley-Brewer.
According to earlier reports, Green's departure may cause a setback in Brexit negotiations. Brexit Secretary David Davis has stated that if Green were "sacked from office" he would be resigning as well. It's unclear if Davis will follow through on his statement.
