Former Congressman Details Downfall In New Memoir

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Former Congressman Trey Radel discussed his new book, Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics and Fancy Finger Food, which details his downfall and resignation following an arrest for cocaine possession. He tells Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that he could not handle the lifestyle that came with the privilege of serving in Washington.

"I take full responsibility for the idiotic decisions that I was making. There are members of Congress who are able to handle all of the responsibilities and keep a balance in their life. I was not able to. I did not and made big mistakes and paid for them. But, I will say there is a human element to all of this. If you have a young family and they live in the district, meaning at home in whatever state you're in and not in Washington, D.C., it's tough and it is very, very difficult to balance that lifestyle of maintaining any semblance of family and being a member of the United States Congress and truly serving your people."

He said his spiral into excess emerged as an escape valve from his day to day duties in the House of Representatives.

"I just ended up meeting a group of people that were off of the Hill that had nothing to do with politics and, for me, at that moment in life, it was a time for me to go out, leave the Hill, escape and not have to, at 10 o'clock at night, be having a cocktail and have somebody chew my ear off about their solution for our debt and deficit problems. I could go out and talk sports and not politics. Unfortunately, the nights got later and later."

Radel stated the book addresses how his troubles impacted those around him, but also how he dealt with the setback and righted his life.

"I was a member of Congress and I was making some pretty poor decisions and I was drinking too much. One thing led to another and, yeah, I made some terrible decisions and ultimately got busted. It led to my eventual resignation. It was an absolutely awful, awful time in life. I hurt a lot of people. The book focuses a lot on that, about being knocked down and going through some really depressing moments of life, but ultimately, how to pick yourself back up."