Embattled U.S. Rep. David Wu will resign from the House of Representatives after being accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a fund-raiser's daughter, he announced Tuesday.
In a statement issued by his office, the seven-term Oregon Democrat said he would step down once the current standoff between Congress and the White House over raising the U.S. debt ceiling is resolved.
"I cannot care for my family the way I wish while serving in Congress and fighting these very serious allegations," Wu said. "The well-being of my children must come before anything else."
Wu is wobbly.
Yesterday, he didn't believe his resignation was necessary. The well-being of his children wasn't an issue when he insisted he would serve out the remainder of his term.
I suspect his colleagues forced Wu to leave, wanting to avoid a repeat of the DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner sex scandal debacle.
In any event, Wu is out. He joins fellow disgraced DEMOCRAT Weiner in resigning from the House.
Democratic Rep. David Wu admitted to a senior Democrat that he “did not use good judgment” during a sexual encounter with the teenage daughter of a family friend last Thanksgiving, although he claimed to have “done nothing illegal.”
Wu made the comment to Rep. John Larson (Conn.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, during a 40-minute meeting the two men had Monday afternoon.
...Sources close to Wu told POLITICO late Sunday night that he will not resign, although the veteran lawmaker has already decided not to seek reelection in 2012. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) have asked the Ethics Committee to investigate the incident, first reported by The Oregonian.
...Wu spent most of Monday huddled in the Democratic Cloakroom located off the House floor. Wu could be seen speaking to Honda and several other colleagues when he went on the floor to vote, but he quickly darted back into the cloakroom, which is off-limits to anyone but members and approved staffers.
Honda told Fox News that Wu shared “very personal things” during their conversation.
In an interview, Larson said he told Wu “to take care of your family, then yourself, then the institution, in that order.” While other top Democrats have privately urged Wu to resign, Larson said he had not done so. He called resignation “an option” for Wu.
Wu, though, admitted that an encounter with the girl occurred, potentially making it more difficult for his defenders to stand by him as the scandal unfolds. Wu reportedly told some of his staffers that the sex was “consensual,” The Oregonian reported.
The longer the scandal drags on the worse it is for Democrats.
It would be best for all involved if Wu would just step aside now.
By hanging on, Wu is giving Republicans a gift, just like Anthony Weiner did.
JAY LENO: Well, folks, here we go again. This is so stupid. It seems 56-year-old Oregon Congressman David Wu... remember him? He's the congressman who sent staffers pictures of himself dressed as a tiger? Here's his picture. Look at this.
There he is. He's a congressman.
Well, he's now been accused of making inappropriate sexual advances to the teenage daughter of a friend. Teenager. What is it with these Democrats? If it's not Weiner's wiener, it's Wu's wang. What is going on?
There were signs with this guy. Did you see his campaign slogan? "Wu's your daddy." Right there we should have known.
The Democrats have another sex scandal to manage this summer.
Democrat U.S. Rep. David Wu from Oregon is picking up where Democrat U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner from New York left off.
Weiner's multiple encounters with women took place in cyberspace. Wu is being accused of more than virtual misbehavior. He's accused of an actual "unwanted sexual encounter" with a teenager.
A distraught young woman called U.S. Rep. David Wu's Portland office this spring, accusing him of an unwanted sexual encounter, according to multiple sources.
When confronted, the Oregon Democrat acknowledged a sexual encounter to his senior aides but insisted it was consensual, the sources said.
The woman is the daughter of a longtime friend and campaign donor. She apparently did not contact police at the time.
One person who heard the voice mail described the woman as upset, breathing heavily and "distraught."
In the voice mail, the young woman accused Wu of aggressive and unwanted sexual behavior, according to sources with direct knowledge of the message and its contents.
Reporters could not verify the young woman's age. Notes on Facebook over the past 18 months indicate she graduated from high school in 2010. California records show she registered to vote in August.
Wu, 56, did not respond to repeated questions from The Oregonian over the past four days.
Late Friday, Wu issued a one-sentence response: "This is very serious, and I have absolutely no desire to bring unwanted publicity, attention, or stress to a young woman and her family."
Sources familiar with the voice mail said it was clear that the woman was the daughter of a high school friend of Wu's in Orange County.
Creepy.
...Two people with knowledge of the recording and the later conversation with Wu said the alleged incident took place over Thanksgiving weekend. Sources said they were told that the woman went outside and Wu left after her. The sexual encounter followed, they said.
Two sources said the woman believed there was not enough evidence to press charges. There were no witnesses, and it would be her word against a seven-term member of the U.S. Congress.
The alleged incident raises new questions about Wu's behavior during the 1st District congressman's re-election campaign last year. According to staff at the time and emails from the period, he behaved so erratically that staff avoided scheduling him for public appearances and ran a campaign that relied heavily on advertising. Shortly before the Nov. 2 election, senior staff quietly shut down the campaign office and sent other campaign workers home.
In February, following unexpectedly large staff turnover, Wu acknowledged extreme stress last year, which he attributed to the campaign and problems in his marriage. He and his wife are in the process of getting a divorce. He said he sought counseling and has taken medication for an unspecified mental condition.
The Southern California incident allegedly occurred a little over three weeks after the election.
In 2004, The Oregonian reported on a 1976 case when Wu was a student at Stanford University and was disciplined for trying to force an ex-girlfriend to have sex.
Will the Democrats protect an alleged rapist? (They protected Bill Clinton.)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Saturday night that she had no comment on whether Rep. David Wu should resign, one day after a Portland newspaper reported that the Oregon Democrat is facing accusations from a young woman of an “unwanted sexual encounter” last fall.
“I don’t have any comment on that at this time,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters as she left her Capitol office after a series of meetings with other congressional leaders on raising the debt ceiling. “I just really don’t know that much about it; I heard that there was some article in the paper.”
Pelosi told reporters that she’d have something to say at a later date, noting that “right now, we’re so completely, totally immersed” in the debt-limit negotiations.
Rep. David Wu spoke to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats on Saturday about his political future in the wake of allegations of a sexual encounter with a teenager, but it is not clear whether the Oregon Democrat will step down from office.
Wu has been accused of having an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage daughter of a longtime friend last year over Thanksgiving weekend. The teenager, whose identity has not been disclosed, and her family have not filed any criminal complaint against the longtime lawmaker, but the incident, the second accusation of inappropriate sexual behavior against Wu, is “extremely troubling” to Pelosi and other Democrats, say Democratic insiders.
...Democratic insiders would not comment on Pelosi’s conversation with Wu other than to confirm that the two had spoken and other senior House Democrats have contacted the lawmaker as well.
Of course, Pelosi is taking the "no comment" route for now, the Weiner strategy.
Eventually, she's going to have to address the scandal. The Democrats can't ignore it.
The 56-year-old Wu's "unwanted sexual encounter" with a teenager is a big deal.
If the allegations of sexual assault are true, Wu has to resign.
JAY LENO: Some good news: We will not be getting anymore junk mail from Congressman Anthony Weiner. Anthony Weiner announced today he is stepping down. I guess he finally realized he couldn't stick it out any longer.
So if you live in New York now, you're only left with one disgraced congressman representing you - Charles Rangel. So you only have the one disgraced guy.
Well, you know, he had to step down. You know, he sent those naked pictures of himself. And there were clues, there were clues. I think in his home life, too. Did you seen him when he stepped down today he was talking about his parents? Here, take a look.
It all starts at home.
The good news is they already found a replacement for Anthony Weiner. The bad news: It's Brett Favre. It doesn't stop!
Well, a new poll showed that 70 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view, unfavorable view of Anthony Weiner. To which Weiner said, 'Really? How about this view? Or this one?' A number of views.
Well, the evidence just kept mounting against him. It was unbelievable. You probably heard of this. A former porn star, an actress who exchanged e-mails with Weiner, held a press conference with her lawyer, Gloria Allred. Did you see this yesterday? And the porn star said that Weiner often steered the conversation toward sex.
You know, I don't want to defend the Congressman, but SHE'S A PORN STAR! What are you going to talk about? The debt ceiling? Hello? Maybe get a three way with Jenna Jameson on the crisis in Libya. Can we do that possibly?
And did you see this? Gloria Allred... she was reading Weiner's sex messages out loud. And, you know, typical lawyer, now she's trying to make a buck on it. Look at this:
Anyway, Anthony Weiner still has to send in an official letter of resignation. In fact, he asked today, 'Can I text the letter?' They said, 'No, no, just regular is fine.'
And to make matters worse, new photos surfaced this week showing Anthony Weiner in a bra and pantyhose. Did you hear about his? Apparently, these cross-dressing photos were taken back in college.
You know, if we could put him in a French maid outfit and hook him up with Arnold Schwarzenegger, it would be the greatest joke day in the history of America.
DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner's resignation news conference was a wild event.
While delivering a lame speech about his career, his values, and his commitment to his constituents and his principles, Weiner was heckled.
Here's the full transcript of Weiner's speech:
Good afternoon.
About 20 years ago, I stood in this very same room here at the council center and asked my neighbors to help to take a chance on me in electing me to the city council. Then some 7 years later, I asked those same people to join with people in Queens in sending me to Congress.
There is no higher honor in a democracy than being sent by your neighbors to represent them in the United States House of Representatives.
It is particularly humbling to represent this district because the communities and families of the 9th congressional district are hard working. They're patriotic. They're opinionated. They are authentic.
I have never forgotten my neighbors because they represent the same middle class story as mine. I went to public schools my whole life. My mother was a school teacher for 32 years. My father went to law school on the G.I. Bill. The middle class story of New York is my story, and I'm very proud of that.
I'm here today to again apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment I have caused. I make this apology to my neighbors and my constituents, but I make it particularly to my wife, Huma.
I had hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district elected me to do, to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it.
Unfortuntately, the distraction that I have created has made that impossible.
So today I am announcing my resignation from Congress so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can chose a new representative, and most importantly, that my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused.
(Heckling, disruption)
To repeat, most importantly, most importantly, so that I can continue to heal from the damage that I have caused.
I want to thank my colleagues in the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike. They come from different places around the country, but fundamentally we all agree. They're all patriots, and I will miss them all.
Thank you... I also want to express my gratitude to members of my staff. They're young people who are not paid very match. They're people that work very hard and very long hours. Ultimately, those people define the notion of service.
I want to thank, of course, the many people who have helped me -- the people who have volunteered, the people who have given me advice, the many of my constituents who have offered me good ideas.
And of course, I want to express my gratitude to my family -- to my mother and father who instilled in me the values that carried me this far; to my brother, Jason; and of course, to my wife, Huma, who stood with me through this entire difficult period and to whom I owe so very much.
I got into politics to help give voice to the many who simply did not have one. Now, I'll be looking for other ways to contribute my talents to make sure that we live up to that most New York and American of ideals -- the idea that leaving a family, a community, and, ultimately, a country is the one thing that all unites us, the one thing we're all focused on.
With God's help and with hard work, we will all be successful.
Representative Anthony D. Weiner has told House leaders that he plans to resign his seat after coming under growing pressure from his Democratic colleagues to leave the House, said a top Democratic official and two people told of Mr. Weiner’s plans.
...The top Democratic official said Mr. Weiner called Representative Nancy Pelosi of California and Representative Steve Israel of New York last night while they were at the White House picnic to inform them he had decided to resign on Thursday.
Rep. Anthony Weiner intends to resign his seat in Congress after a scandal spawned by lewd and even X-rated photos the New York lawmaker took of himself and sent online to numerous women, relieved Democratic officials said Thursday.
"It's my understanding that later in the day he will have a news conference," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said without elaboration. Weiner's office said he would talk to reporters at 2 p.m. EDT in Brooklyn.
Weiner, 46, has been at a treatment facility at an undisclosed location since last weekend. He has not been seen in public since telling reporters on Saturday morning he intended to return to work.
One official said Weiner telephoned Pelosi and Rep. Steve Israel of New York, the head of the party campaign committee, on Wednesday evening to tell them of his plans to quit.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the private nature of the conversations.
Weiner's decision to give up his House seat marks the end of a nearly three-week sex scandal without the sex — an event that resulted from the brash New Yorker's use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
"Sex scandal without the sex"?
Yeah, that seems to be the victim card some Democrats and assorted Leftists are playing to defend DEMOCRAT Weiner.
Does virtual sex mean it's a virtual scandal?
When a U.S. congressman, a married man, sends multiple lewd photos of himself to multiple women, engages in multiple sexual conversations with multiple women, and then denies and lies multiple times for a week about his actions, stating that he was hacked and the victim of a crime, it's a sex scandal with sex, replete with denials.
Sex, lies, and cyberspace.
What's so incredible to me is that Weiner and the Democrats could have avoided so much of the fallout from this scandal by just admitting that the first crotch shot made public, the one in the gray underwear, was of him.
Instead of insisting he was the victim of a hacker, he could have told the truth.
Instead of claiming he was unable to say with certitude that the photo was of him, he could have simply gave a truthful identification.
He chose to engage in a cover-up. That was a mistake.
When it was clear that the scandal wasn't going away, he should have quickly resigned.
Instead, DEMOCRAT Weiner said he was going to stick it out.
This seemed like death by a thousand crotch shots.
It could have been less painful if DEMOCRAT Weiner had owned up to his flawed character.
I suppose it's fitting that the Saints are doing this promotion.
Following the latest scandal sometimes seems to rival baseball as America's pastime.
The best Wieners in the country are found at ballparks. They have the foot-long Wiener in Los Angeles, sausage race in Milwaukee and some of the juiciest dogs around are in Chicago. The St. Paul Saints will unveil perhaps the most famous Wiener this summer on National Hot Dog Day.
That was a nice shout-out to our Racing Sausages!
On Saturday, July 23 the first 1,501 fans 18 and over in attendance will receive a commemorative pair of Tweeting Wiener Boxer Shorts. The boxers will honor National Hot Dog Day with an image on the front of a blue bird taking a photo of a Wiener with his phone.
The state that has received the biggest coverage, of late, for its Wiener’s is New York. Photographic evidence (and police records) show they come in all shapes and sizes, and can be sent across the world via cell phones and the internet. Of course, we’re referring to the Annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest held annually on July 4. Two lucky fans will have a chance to win round trip tickets to the July 4, 2012 contest. In order to win, fans can tweet a photo of their best-looking Wieners (from the grill) to @StPaulSaints. Twitter accounts hacked into will be ineligible initially. On July 23, the photos will be shown on the Saints video board and fans will choose a contest Wiener.
During the evening, the Saints will have their very own Tweeting Wiener, as Master of Ceremonies Joe Wiener (seriously, that’s his name) will send out tweets and twit pics during the night from the top of the third base dugout. It is expected that following the game, Saints fans will encourage Wiener to resign.
The St. Paul Saints are an Independent Baseball Team in the American Association and are owned and operated by the Goldklang Group and Team President Mike Veeck. They are known for such promotions as Bud Selig Seat Cushion Giveaway (2002), Randy Moss Hood Ornament (2003), The Love Boat Giveaway (2006), Bobblefoot (2008) and Michael Vick Dog Chew Toy (2008).
It would be nice for the Saints to send DEMOCRAT Weiner a commemorative pair of the Tweeting Wiener Boxer Shorts, though based on the photos I've seen of Weiner, he's not a boxers kind of guy.
He prefers to wear something a bit more snug, or he wears nothing at all.
Ginger Lee and her attorney, Gloria Allred, concluded a press conference a few minutes ago. The media were called to hear about Lee's relationship with DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner.
It was a typical Allred event - not very newsworthy.
A former porn actress who said she exchanged emails and messages over Twitter with New York Rep. Anthony Weiner said Wednesday that he asked her to lie about their online communications.
Ginger Lee said she and Weiner exchanged about 100 emails between March and June, beginning after Lee posted a supportive statement about the congressman on her blog. She said they mostly discussed politics, but he would often turn the conversation to sex.
"'I have wardrobe demands too. I need to highlight my package,'" Weiner wrote Lee, in an email read aloud at the news conference by Lee's attorney, Gloria Allred.
Weiner acknowledged last week that he had sent lewd photos and texts to women after a photo of his crotch was posted on Twitter. In an interview two weeks ago, he acknowledged that he had exchanged messages with Lee but didn't elaborate.
Lee said she did not send sexually suggestive messages to Weiner.
"Anytime that he would take our communications in a sexual direction, I did not reciprocate," she said.
Weiner sent Lee an email in early June after the photo of his crotch was sent out on his Twitter account, and "he asked me to lie" about their contact, she said.
Lee said she put out a three-sentence statement on the matter at his request. She did not elaborate but said she was coming forward now to tell the truth and to deny reports that she was in an online sexual relationship with him.
Lee and her attorney, Gloria Allred, repeated some of the information TMZ broke last week ... that Weiner sent her an email after the scandal broke, telling her how to lie about her relationship with him.
Allred read some of the emails Weiner sent Lee, including, "Alright, my package and I are not going to beg. We both see the harzard of going down the path of comparative sexiness."
Another read, "You aren't giving my package due credit." Allred says Lee was a supporter of Weiner's, particularly on the subjects of health care and planned parenthood.
Good grief.
DEMOCRAT Weiner needs to resign.
The longer this scandal lingers, the worse it is for the Democrats. ________________
While new Anthony Weiner "self-portraits" surfaced yesterday and got a lot of attention, they were eclipsed by the first photos of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords released by her aides since the Tuscon shooting.
This, most recent photo of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot, was posted to her public Facebook page by her aides Sunday morning June 12, 2011. (AP Photo/PGiffords Campaign - P.K. Weis)
This, most recent photo of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot, was posted to her public Facebook page by her aides. The woman in the background is her mother Gloria Giffords. The photo was taken May 17, 2011 at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, the day after the launch of Endeavour and the day before she had her cranioplasty. (AP/Giffords Campaign)
Giffords looks remarkably well.
It's amazing that she survived that horrific shooting.
It's encouraging to see her smiling, but as aides note, her recovery is far from complete.
Images of a smiling Rep. Gabrielle Giffords were posted Sunday on her Facebook page, two photos that show her with shorter, darker hair but few signs that she suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
The photos were taken May 17 outside the Houston rehabilitation facility where Giffords has been undergoing treatment since she was wounded five months ago at a meet-and-greet event with constituents. Six people died and a dozen others were hurt in the Jan. 8 attack in Tucson, Ariz.
Since then, access to the Arizona congresswoman has been tightly controlled. Until Sunday, no clear images had been released.
The only recent sign of Giffords came in late April, when grainy television footage showed her slowly ascending a flight of steps to a NASA plane that took her to Florida to watch her astronaut husband rocket into space. The image was so blurry that it was impossible to confirm it was Giffords until doctors did so at a news conference in mid-May.
Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin said staff members released the photos Sunday to help satisfy "intense interest in the congresswoman's appearance."
The timing coincides with plans to release Giffords from the hospital later this month or in early July. Her staff hopes the images will help curb unwanted photography when she begins visiting an outpatient clinic in a more public setting.
"What we wanted to avoid was a paparazzi-like frenzy," Karamargin said.
It was smart to release the photos. I'm sure there will still be a "paparazzi-like frenzy," but photographers won't be vying to get that first photo of her.
The professionally shot pictures were taken before Giffords underwent surgery to replace a piece of her skull that had been removed shortly after the shooting to allow her brain to swell. The images suggest the congresswoman is returning to her former appearance — though she still looks slightly different than before.
But the photos give little indication of Giffords' cognitive abilities — what, for example, her speech is like after being shot in the left side of the head, which controls communication. The images also provide no hints as to when, or if, she will be able to resume her job.
"There's nothing that unique about the outer presentation," said Jordan Grafman, director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Laboratory at the Kessler Foundation Research Center in West Orange, N.J., explaining that many brain injury patients look good within months of being hurt.
"But the image doesn't tell us the inner mental state or the brain itself, how it's functioning," said Grafman, who has not treated Giffords. "What's their social skills? Do they have a nuanced sense of humor? Can they participate in activities? All that is what's important."
Pia Carusone, Giffords' chief of staff, has indicated that while the congresswoman is able to speak and walk, she remains a shadow of her former self.
That's very disturbing - "she remains a shadow of her former self."
All along, the media kept choosing to report the "miraculous recovery" angle. If you're not familiar with traumatic brain injuries, you may have been misled by the irresponsible accounts.
Even now, with her release from the hospital coming soon, I don't think the media are placing enough emphasis on the fact that she still needs intensive therapy. She'll receive it on an outpatient basis. Leaving the hospital doesn't mean Giffords is all better.
...Of the two pictures, one is more clearly posed, that of a smiling Giffords looking directly at the camera. The left side of her head appears slightly distorted and swollen. A second photo shows Giffords in a more casual light — smiling while sitting alongside her mother, Gloria Giffords, with the hospital's greenery evident behind them.
The pictures were taken by Tucson photographer P.K. Weis.
Carusone told the Associated Press late Saturday that doctors and family were considering "many factors" while weighing when to release Giffords from the hospital. She did not elaborate.
"We're looking at before the end of the month. We're looking at early July," Carusone said. "We don't have a date."
In an interview published Thursday in the Arizona Republic, Carusone said Giffords can express her basic wants and needs, but has difficulty stringing together sentences to verbalize more complex thoughts and feelings. Giffords, she said, relies on hand gestures and facial expressions.
"She is borrowing upon other ways of communicating. Her words are back more and more now, but she's still using facial expressions as a way to express. Pointing. Gesturing," Carusone said.
...Most cognitive recovery occurs in the first six months to a year after an injury, though it becomes less noticeable as time progresses. In the second year, progress sharply drops.
Carusone said if Giffords' recovery were to plateau now, "it would not be nearly the quality of life she had before."
"All that we can hope for is that she won't plateau today and that she'll keep going and that when she does plateau, it will be at a place far away from here," she said.
Clearly, Giffords' aides aren't attempting to distort the reality of her condition. Nonetheless, I've seen media reports failing to tell the truth. They can be extremely deceptive.
That's a disservice to the public. Such reports do nothing to advance the general public's understanding of the consequences of brain injuries.
Although Giffords' chief of staff describes her current state as a "shadow of her former self," the value of her life hasn't changed at all. Whatever her present state and eventual level of recovery is, it doesn't change the fact that she deserves respect and should be treated with dignity.
Giffords' life most likely won't be the same as before, but her life is no less precious now than it was before the shooting.
I'm praying that Giffords continues to make progress and that she regains a quality of life as close as possible to what she once had.
TMZ has posted a new DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner gallery.
Rep. Anthony Weiner took numerous photos of himself -- clothed and partially nude -- at the House Members Gym and sent them to at least one woman ... raising questions about whether he used Congressional resources in his online exploits.
TMZ obtained the pics Weiner took of himself using his Blackberry and a mirror. Congressional sources have confirmed with TMZ ... the backdrop is indeed the House Members Gym in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The pics were taken on both the gym floor and in the locker room.
Using the House Gym as a backdrop for his perverted photo shoots is not OK.
Do you get the feeling that Weiner loves the way he looks?
It's time for DEMOCRAT Weiner to resign. Actually, his resignation is a week overdue.
I'm sure Dancing with the Stars would want him. I bet Weiner would like the costumes and strutting around.
Maybe Donald Trump will sign him up for the next season of Celebrity Apprentice.
Whatever the future holds for Weiner, it shouldn't include being a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
See the latest Weiner photos, taken at the House Members' Gym here.
Lusty lawmaker Anthony Weiner will be checking into a treatment center - just as two of the country's most powerful Democrats simultaneously called for him to quit.
Weiner will seek help in the sexting scandal that has put his career on life-support, according to political sources.
"Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person," according to a statment released by his office late Saturday afternoon.
"In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well."
Weiner isn't a bad guy. He's ill and needs treatment. Poor, poor DEMOCRAT Weiner.
What a crock!
This is another instance of the medicalization of behaving badly.
The move - which Weiner resisted in the early days of the scandal - comes as Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority leader, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair, each said the lawmaker needs to go.
"It is with great disappointment that I call on Representative Anthony Weiner to resign," said Congresswoman Schultz of Florida, calling the scandal a "sordid affair."
"The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner's continued service in Congress is untenable," she said.
Pelosi, who earlier this week called for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Weiner's behavior, also pleaded for the lawmaker to step aside.
"Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents, and the recognition that he needs help," said Weiner [sic]. "I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a Member of Congress."
Pelosi and Wasserman Schultz are engaged in CYA.
If the Democrats and Obama wanted Weiner out of the House, he'd be out.
I suppose DEMOCRAT Weiner may be negotiating for a position in the administration or the party, after a stint in rehab and a respectable leave of absence from public service, if he agrees to resign. That could account for his threats to hold on to his seat.
Actually, it's better for conservatives if DEMOCRAT Weiner hangs around.
It would be great for Obama and his comrades to have to run under the cloud of DEMOCRAT corruption and scandal.
If Democrats are so powerless they can't get one of their own to step aside for the good of the party, they look incredibly incompetent.
Representative Anthony D. Weiner said on Friday that he exchanged at least five private messages on Twitter this spring with a 17-year-old Delaware girl who became an admirer of his after hearing him speak during a high school trip to Washington.
Mr. Weiner’s spokeswoman, Risa Heller, did not provide copies of the messages, but said they were not inappropriate.
“According to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent,” Ms. Heller said.
A member of the girl’s family who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her identity characterized the messages as “harmless” but expressed concern that Mr. Weiner had communicated privately with the teenager, a high school junior.
The family was aware that there had been exchanges between Mr. Weiner and the girl but assumed that all of their conversations had taken place on a public Twitter feed.
What was DEMOCRAT Weiner thinking?
It doesn't look good for a congressman to be sending direct messages to a 17-year-old girl on Twitter.
...The family member said: “I am angry. This is surreal and unbelievable. It is absolutely crazy. We are just regular people who go to baseball games and basketball games, as ordinary and plain as can be.”
In the past few days, the girl and her family have become subjects of intense interest in the news media. On Friday, the local police arrived at their home and asked the girl and her mother to bring the girl’s phone and computer to the police station so they could be checked to make sure no crime had occurred.
The family member said the family complied, and did not expect any further action to be taken.
The girl’s contact with Mr. Weiner started in early April, after her trip to Washington. The congressman spoke to her school group, and she began following him on Twitter, posting a public message saying how much she liked his speech.
Two days later, Mr. Weiner began following her on Twitter. On her profile, she says she aspires to be president. In a private message he sent to her, he said: “How hip am I talking to a future president.”
It appears that DEMOCRAT Weiner initiated the private messaging.
Oh, my God.
Delighted that she had heard directly from a congressman, the girl wrote a public post on her Twitter feed: “talking to Rep Weiner from New York right now! is my life real?”
At the time, a group of conservatives was monitoring Mr. Weiner’s Twitter activity, after noticing that he was sending messages to a pornographic star from Tennessee.
When members of the group saw the girl’s post, suggesting she was engaging in a private conversation with Mr. Weiner, they alerted the congressman that they were watching him. “@RepWeiner new pal is a high school girl. First porn actresses now little girls. Weird.”
According to the girl’s family member, people in the group also copied the girl on some of the messages they sent to him, so she sent Mr. Weiner a private message telling him that she felt she was being harassed. He apologized to her in a private message, and removed her from the list of people he followed on Twitter.
About a month later, Mr. Weiner sent out a public message saying he wanted to attract more followers on Twitter and offered to follow people on his account if they wanted him to.
The girl responded to the appeal and posted a public message to him: “Don’t forget me. I used to follow you.” On May 16, he began following the girl again, and over the next 10 days they had three private message exchanges, the family member said.
One was about baseball. In another, he replied to a question she had about legislation by jokingly asking for her advice, the family member said. His third message to her was in response to a link she posted to a YouTube video of his giving a speech, with the message: “My true love.”
In a blog post on Tumblr, she later shared the contents of that private message from him. In it, Mr. Weiner appeared to liken himself to a superhero.
“I came back strong,” he wrote. “Large. Tights and cape. ...”
On the Tumblr blog post she added, “My favorite Congressman.”
Obviously, the messages are open to interpretation.
They're not sexually explicit, but they are weird. Based on DEMOCRAT Weiner's other online exchanges, his description of himself as "strong" and "large" and with "tights and cape" is very creepy. His comments are flirtatious.
Was the girl unwittingly helping DEMOCRAT Weiner "enjoy himself"?
Yuck.
DEMOCRAT Weiner should not have been playing games on Twitter with a kid. Would he have written the same stuff to her on his public Twitter feed?
I really think the involvement of a 17-year-old girl and DEMOCRAT Weiner private messaging with her about being large and like a superhero crosses the line.
Democrats, your colleague needs to resign.
DEMOCRAT Weiner has done enough damage. It's a mistake for his party to continue to defend him.
I am so creeped out.
Why are the Democrats giving the Republicans this gift? _________________
In private Twitter messages last month to a Delaware high school student, Weiner told of butting heads with Republican congressional opponents. Describing how he returned fire at his political foes, Weiner told the 17-year-old girl, “I came back strong. Large. In charge. Tights and cape sh--.”
The girl shared Weiner’s tweets with acquaintances and posted his tights/capes quote on her Tumblr blog, along with the notation, “My favorite congressman <3.”
Clearly, Weiner did not conduct himself like an authority figure or a role model with this high school kid.
DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner is getting no mercy from late night comedians.
This is the fifth night of a Weiner dominated monologue from Jay Leno.
JAY LENO: A company called 'iTouchless' has come out with a kitchen trash can that opens automatically when it senses you approaching. It opens by itself when you come near it. Congressman Anthony Weiner has a pair of pants using the same technology.
I've never done this, but this whole taking a picture of your crotch thing, you know -- I mean when you're taking a picture of your penis, before you press the button on the camera, do you still say 'Cheese'?
Well, as you know, Congressman Weiner said it's only been six women over the past few years. But you know, this is not new. These problems go way back. We were able to obtain some footage of Congressman Weiner when he was back in high school. Now this is disturbing. I apologize for the quality, but here, take a look.
(Clip from 'Saved by the Bell' dubbed with 'Weiner')
But Weiner said today again he is not resigning. And if there's one thing we about this guy he knows how to stand firm. So, he is not resigning.
There's a million of these jokes. We could do them all day.
In fact, his new campaign slogan: 'Hey, as seen on Twitter. Yeah, come on, vote for me.'
It was also announced this week, he's going to be a father. Let's just hope he doesn't name the kid 'Seymour.' That's the worst name you could possibly come up with. But enough about that.
Anyway, the show Extra gave an exclusive look of the inside of Anthony Weiner's condominium in New York City. And you could tell there were problems in the house. Here's the story.
(Clip Weiner's condo and his cat posing in revealing positions, cat also known for posting provocative pictures on Twitter)
DEMOCRAT Anthony Weiner is still starring in Jay Leno's monologue.
Brett Favre, Eliot Spitzer, and Bill Clinton are also playing roles.
Jokes from Thursday's Tonight Show:
JAY LENO: It was so hot in Washington, everyone was sitting around in their underwear like Congressman Weiner. He finally felt at home.
Oh man, that story! Oh, please! This is the story that just won't go away. It gets worse and worse. You've probably seen this. It now seems there's a picture going around the Internet of Congressman Weiner's naked penis. And you can tell it's him because it looks just like him, you know? You know, if he was bald. I mean, you can see the resemblance.
Let me tell you how graphic this picture is. Even Brett Favre won't return his calls now. That's how bad... it's terrible.
You know, I mean, I don't understand taking... how many photos of his crotch did he take? You know, I don't have any photos of my crotch. I mean, I've got a couple of oil paintings, some sketches, sure, a couple of charcoals, but I mean, you know, I don't, really... No, it's awful.
See, I don't understand the way Washington works. Now explain this to me: We are not allowed to see bin Laden's death photo because it's too explicit; but our Congressman's penis, that's fine.
Well, the latest news is that Congressman Weiner's wife is pregnant. I'll tell you how creepy this is: When his wife first called to tell him she was pregnant, he said, 'Uh, who is this?'
Well, you know who married Weiner and his wife? Bill Clinton. In fact, Weiner called Bill Clinton and apologized. See that's when you know you have a problem, OK, when your sexual behavior has offended Bill Clinton. That's where you just go, 'OK, time to draw the line.'
Well, more and more people are now calling for Anthony Weiner to resign. But it's not all bad news. Eliot Spitzer said if Weiner does resign, he can join him on his show and they'll call it 'Weiner Spitzer.'
How many people feel he should resign?
(Audience applauds)
How many people feel he's doing a good job and this has nothing to do with his job?
(Little audience applause)
Interesting, interesting.
Now, as I said, Weiner is adamant now about not resigning. In fact, CNN caught up with him today on the streets and they talked to him. Here, take... here's the interview:
(Clip of actual CNN video, followed by video with CNN audio)
I don't want to see that member of Congress, OK? Thank you.
The embattled congressman's wife is pregnant child, a bombshell revelation that comes as the couple struggles to salvage their young marriage amid his tawdry Internet sex scandal.
Huma Abedin, 35, is 10 weeks pregnant, two sources told The Post. It will be the first child for both.
The beautiful top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was just starting to tell friends and relatives the happy news when her husband's sleazy sexting was unveiled, putting his political career on the ropes.
And in what could have been an attempt to prepare for their growing family, the power couple put their modest Queens co-op apartment up for sale at the end of March, The Post has learned. It has since been taken off the market.
Saddened by the disclosure of her husband's online sexual antics, Rep. Anthony Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, is on a weeklong overseas trip with her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as another disclosure puts her even more in the unwelcome public eye: She is pregnant.
It was the latest twist in a series of eye-popping revelations surrounding Weiner, D-N.Y., and the sex scandal that could force the onetime rising political star to resign from Congress. A spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that he had sent explicit photographs to women, as an X-rated photo Weiner purportedly took of himself made its way around several online gossip sites.
Sources close to Weiner and Abedin disclosed Wednesday that the couple is expecting a child, their first. Philippe Reines, a State Department spokesman and Abedin friend, had no comment.
...Abedin was with Weiner in New York following his news conference Monday in which he acknowledged sending inappropriate texts and photos to several women over about three years and publicly apologized to her for the pain he had caused.
"I love my wife very much, and we have no intention of splitting up over this," Weiner said through tears.
Abedin did not appear at Weiner's side as he faced the media, but friends said her absence did not mean she wasn't supporting him during the crisis. They said she went ahead Wednesday and accompanied Clinton to the Persian Gulf and Africa because she has not let the controversy get in the way of her professional duties.
...Friends describe Abedin as more saddened than angry over her husband's behavior, and she plans to try to help him, even though she believes he has a lot of work to do to redeem himself.
What is Weiner's problem?
He has a lovely wife and a baby on the way.
And what does he do?
Weiner screws around online. He shows no respect for his wife and his child.
The pregnancy certainly complicates things for DEMOCRAT Weiner, as more and more revelations about his dishonest "way of life" become public.
But Abedin is apparently going to stand by her man.
Andrew Breitbart discusses how the photo of the previously unpublished photo of Anthony Weiner, the crotch shot now seen 'round the world, made it to the Internet.
Blame deception and Opie and Anthony. Anyway, that's Breitbart's story.
It's Day Three of Anthony Weiner jokes on the Tonight Show.
JAY LENO: Well, yesterday, President Obama welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House. One embarrassing moment when Merkel got a phone call from a certain New York congressman, asked if she'd like to see his Wiener Schnitzel. That was really bad.
This is not good folks. Congressman Weiner has admitted he did carry on an explicit online relationship with six different women. Well, he thought they were women. Turns out three were women, one was a guy pretending to be a woman, and the other two were other congressmen. He had no idea. They were talking to each other.
Now it turns out one of the women that Weiner was sexting with is a porn star, a porn star. I mean, how bad... one minute, you're a respected member of Congress, the next minute you're competing for skanks with Charlie Sheen. What is that? What is that? Horrible.
And you know, you say to yourself, people wonder why did he engage in such reckless behavior. You know, if you want people to check out your crotch, go to the airport and go through security like everybody else.
And of course, Weiner now desperately trying to make things better with his wife. And you know, you can tell he's sorry. Like today, he sent her a picture of his penis with a little sad face on it.
