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AP Photo/Richard Drew
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., addresses a news conference in New York, Monday, June 6, 2011.
Published Monday, June 6, 2011 | 11:43 a.m.
Updated Monday, June 6, 2011 | 4:42 p.m.
NEW YORK - After days of denials, a choked-up New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed Monday that he tweeted a photo of his bulging underpants to a woman and admitted to "inappropriate" exchanges with six women before and after getting married. He apologized for lying but said he would not resign.
Weiner said at a news conference that he had never personally met any of the women he corresponded with online and sometimes via telephone, and was not even sure of their ages. He also said he had never had sex outside of his marriage.
"This was me doing a dumb thing, and doing it repeatedly, and lying about it," he said.
He said he did not feel the scandal affected his work as a lawmaker but would understand if his constituents decided not to re-elect him.
"I'm going to work very hard to win back their trust," he said at the half-hour-long news conference.
A conservative website that last week started a furor over the underwear photo sent from Weiner's Twitter account posted new photos Monday purportedly from a second woman who said she received shirtless shots of the congressman.
Weiner had earlier said of the underwear photo that his account was hacked and that he'd hired a lawyer and a private security firm to get to investigate the incident involving the underwear shot. But he could not say for sure if the underwear photo was of him.
Weiner called the underpants photo a joke and a "hugely regrettable mistake."
"I haven't told the truth and have done things I deeply regret," he said. "I brought pain to people I care about."
BigGovernment.com, the website run by conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, had posted the latest photos and said they were in a cache of intimate online photographs, chats and email exchanges the woman claimed to have. The website did not identify the woman.
One photo showed Weiner on a couch with two cats nearby. The website said Weiner sent the photo using the anthonyweiner(at)aol.com account with the subject line "Me and the pussys."
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., poses with his wife, Huma Abedin, in this July 10, 2010, file photo.
The celebrity website RadarOnline.com said a Nevada woman claimed to have 200 sexually explicit messages from Weiner through a Facebook account that Weiner no longer uses. It was not clear whether the woman who claimed to have the new photo was the person who claimed to have received the text messages.
In a strange turn before Weiner's planned news conference, Breitbart took to the podium, defending the accuracy of his posts and saying his reputation was being smeared by the congressman.
The photo showing Weiner shirtless was reminiscent of a photo of former Rep. Chris Lee, a New York Republican who resigned from office earlier this year after a shirtless photo he sent a woman on Craig's List became public.
Weiner, 46, married Hillary Rodham Clinton aide Huma Abedin last July, with former President Bill Clinton officiating. Before that, Weiner had been known as one of New York's most eligible bachelors.
Weiner began his career as a legislative assistant to then-Rep. Chuck Schumer, who is now the state's senior senator. He was elected to the New York City Council before winning Schumer's House seat in 1998, representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
He gained a national profile during the debate over President Barack Obama's health care plan when he outspokenly professed support for a government-run "single-payer" program for everyone and later a "public option" to compete with private health insurance. He got the notice of liberals even though both proposals failed to make it into law.
The Republican Congressman resigned after it was revealed that he has sent a shirtless photo of his chest to a woman. Why hasn't Femocrat Weiner resigned? Femocrats have no shame and no guts.
Amazing that someone thinks that this stuff is "forged".
Goodbye Weiner....
Easy, Michael...EEEZEEE...
You guys ain't all that, and you know it.
We need a new Political Party in this country... the
"We have an Ounce of Common Sense" party...there would have to be a means test to become a party member...I.Q. higher than your age...perhaps even 100 or above...not too tough, but excludes the dead weight...in Nevada, we'd likely have to lower the standard just to get goin'...the facts are not pretty...
http://www.top50states.com/average-iq-sc...
If WeinerGate proves true, even HALF of it...the congressman from New York MUST STEP DOWN... if true, it would point to the Weiner being BEYOND STUPID...
What a DORK. A very promising political career, a successful, lovely wife, young, brash...and a Pinocchio nose, both figuratively and literally...ALLEGEDLY...
But hey, IT'S BREIBART!!!
Andy's nose is AS LONG AS A TELEPHONE WIRE!!!
We must wait until there are ACTUAL FACTS IN EVIDENCE...
gamg, there is already a part like that, they are called Whigs. :)
They don't have an IQ test, but then again, they don't really need one since only people who paid attention in history know what the term means.
Weiner is getting ready to give a press conference, Breitbart is talking to reporters saying he will be vindicated by what Weiner will say.
Before this happened Weiner was said to be one of the smarter Dims. You only had to ask him.
I love it. This guy is gone. You morons were quick to trash Ensign and called for his head. Oh wait, Weiner is about to speak. When you eat the Weiner it comes out the Colon. Weiner is now admitting to sending the photos. Here we go. I love it.
Weiner just admitted to sending the tweet!
hang on everyone
he wasn't sure if the "member" in question "was his."
once we properly ID the phallus then we can move forward
Breitbart is vindicated
This story isn't going to go away, and apparently Weiner isn't either. He takes "full responsibility" but is not resigning.
Time to cut off all pension and medical benefits to all elected officials.
Wow.. The Sun deleted the post from the fool who speculated that Breitbart somehow was part of a forgery.
Liberals protecting liberals??
Weiner apologizes to Breitbart. I love it.
First of all Breitbart helped to expose Acorn and that was a good thing. Has to show some credibility. If guys like Ensign must go and they must Weiner should also be shown the door. Party means nothing in this case.
His shirtless New York republican 'photo comrade' had a much better chest me thinks.
:-)
He apologized. Good enough for me. He shows integrity and owned up to his faults and imperfections. He has taken steps to accept responsibility, not only before the press, his constituents, but to his wife and loved ones as well. And I'm sure he is going to have to work hard on the homefront to turn this around.
There appears to be no crimes committed here. Just poor judgment.
After it's all said and done, Andrew Breitbart is still a horse's butthole. I don't care if he's been proven right in this matter. He's STILL scum. He's STILL a scuzz bucket opportunist that looks for things to present in only an ultra-conservative fashion; even if he has to fabricate, make it up and/or mold it like silly putty, cut, snip and paste to pound it out there continually.
I accept his apology. It appears to be genuine. And I do agree he has to work hard to turn this around in order to get re-elected.
But in the meantime, back to business as usual.
And that business is to keep up the smackdown on deplorable one-sided Republican Party ideology that makes no sense and only panders to the filthy rich and the corporations. Representative Weiner's contributions to slapping Republicans repeatedly is very important and must continue in order to call them out for the hypocrites they are; stopping their selfish, greedy money grubbing ways to further corporate welfare. He is a proven friend of the middle class and I hope he continues to serve us just as faithfully.
There.
I said it.
That oughta get the righties spun up.
I don't think he needs to resign... I'm not in his district and I'm not a family member, so while amusing to watch, it doesn't really affect me. He had a bright future ahead of him, which is now tanked or at a minimum severely derailed.
I'm curious, do most of you hold your family members to the same "off with your head" ramifications for mistakes? I trust the voters and citizens in his district will sort this out and that's where it should be. What I will predict though is that the media will continue to make this so much of an issue that it will force him to resign, as it'll be impossible for him to do his job with the distractions. In today's world there's simply is no place for politicians to separate their private and public lives. Not saying it's right... but it is what is it.
He was obviously was set up by FOX.
Gmag desires credit for asking Weiner to resign.
Colin and mred are pure 100% Kool-Aid drinkers.
I don't care if he resigns or not.
He is probably on his way of becoming a Democrat hero. You usually have to be a drunk, drug user, cheat on your spouse 100x's or do other sleazy stuff to be become a Democrat hero. Wiener fits the bill.
Given how Breitbart has been known to, shall we say, embellish the truth at times, including doctoring videos, it was not unreasonable to wait til independent verification came in.
I would call a confession by Weiner verification. :)
Wonder why Demorat liberals don't resign when caught in a mess like this? I'm sure Dingy Harry, living at the Ritz in DC, will be calling for Wiener to resign.It's rumored that he called Nancy to see if she has access to the pictures. The press was waiting for a response from Scary Shelley. Apparently she was at a medical office getting botox shots and had to wait until she could talk again. John Ensign responding through Cindy said "No Comment"!
The biggest problem when something like this happens is that it provides a great distraction so other in Congress can pull crap without being noticed.
The decline of immorality in this country, especially in high elected offices, is appalling. The gross disregard for God and His commandments has led this country down a dangerous path of destruction both from within and without. Am I the only one who sees the handwriting on the wall? This country needs to repent or face the consequences of judgment. Posted by Rev. Daniel W. Blair, author of Final Warning http://www.revelation-truth.org
It figures the Dems are willing to accept the apology and not embelish him any more than that. Unreal the guys a looney tune and should be shipped out just like any Repub would be. Can't believe how hypocritcal Dems are on matters like this. No arguments Weiners gotta go just like Ensign and anyone else. Can't wait to see Berkley's, Reid's and Pelosi's take on this one.
Homeboy asks: "Wonder why Demorat liberals don't resign when caught in a mess like this?"
For the same reason Replicon conservatives don't resign when caught in a mess like this. Vitter, anyone? Only there is a difference: what Vitter did was ILLEGAL and he could have been PROSECUTED for it. Yet when he returned to the Senate after holing up for awhile, his Replicon colleagues gave him a STANDING OVATION. Because, you know, they're so moral and all.
Oh, you're thinking about Rep. Smith, who resigned as soon as that shirtless photo of him came out. But he was SOLICITING SEX -- not virtual sex, but real sex -- and he had run as a family-values Replicon. Furthermore, he was especially interested in transsexual partners. Or was it transvestites? Who remembers -- but he didn't want to talk about it, and that's why he was so quick to resign.
Weiner sent naughty photos to women whom he had never met in real life. Bad behavior? You bet. Bad judgment? Yes, in spades. Stupid? Doesn't get much more stupid, than to engage in that kind of behavior in today's political climate -- whichever side of the political spectrum you are on. We have gone way beyond the "politics of personal destruction"; now we're at "take no prisoners".
I'm glad he is not resigning. Now if more comes out, and it turns out he did not really come clean at this press conference, then I think that would be the end of his career. Barring that, I think we can leave the personal repercussions up to his wife, and the political repercussions up to his constituents.
I don't particularly care that he sent pics...
The problem is, he LIED ABOUT IT, over and over.
Heck, he even went on CNN and sat down with Wolfy and lied his a$$ off. That's bad. Someone who lies so easily, especially when the simple truth is not that egregious, is pathological, IMO.
He needs to resign just like everyone else that has been in his shoes.
Just because he is in D.C. doesn't make him above the law and can do whatever he wants and not have to pay for what he did.
Of course the lying is the worst part. But what man (or woman, for that matter) who is caught out in illicit sexual behavior, will not lie about it if they think they might be able to avoid embarrassment? It's human behavior 101.
He did himself no favors by his behavior and by his lying about it. It is unavoidable that most of us now have a diminished view of him. It is up to him whether he learns from it and redeems himself. I hope he does.
Ha Ha Ha...a dummycrats weiner being drug through the media. What a weenie Weiner is.
Breitbart is correct again and the Liberals losers hate his guts!
Pelosi's calling for an ethics investigation, and hopefully that will force him out without furthering the sideshow.
The GOP would love nothing more than to distract voters with this, rather than running on their record to destroy Medicare, increase costs to seniors and further propagate big government with things like the PATRIOT act.
Voters will keep their eye on the ball.
Kevin, medicare is already destroyed, costs have increased on everybody and big government is out of control especially if Obamacare is put into place.
Weiner should be ashamed and those who voted for him should too.
Why waste time and money on a ethics investigation? He admitted it, only thing left is punishment, or for him to man up and resign.
Can't wait to hear O'Reilly (loofah) and Dick Morris (toes) talk about this scandal tonight on FOX.
Its amusing to watch the righties and lefties turn this into a soapbox opportunity.
I'll do you all a favor and save you all a boatload of time:
If all the politicians in america were terminated over misconduct (of a sexual nature or not,) there would be none left.
And we'd probably get more done anyway...
Weird press conference when anyone has to applogize to a liar like Breitbart?!?!
Dumb Anthony, very dumb.
I'm sorry for the one sided view of this, but I'm pretty sure I'm right on this regard.
What Representative Weiner did seems to be unconscionable?
But when you stack it up against what Senator Ensign has done?
You ask me, Rep. Weiner needs to keep his job. Because he did nothing wrong. Except he exercised poor judgment.
The former ex-Senator Ensign? He gets a free ride still!?!!?!
Unbelievable how our politics have become where we forget what the hell happened before and all of a sudden, because of only party politics, our outrage comes out only because of change of wind direction and indiscretions/lack of judgement when it deals with the other side? And they do nothing of a criminal nature?
Dumb how our politics goes when it involves ignoring clear cut criminal violations, but all of a sudden, because they're on one side of the political aisle, the outrage is amped up to the max.
Bring on the elections in 2012. Republicans with their cheap political victories will be voted out en masse. They are into anything that will further their stupid cause when it involves only one misstep by the Democrats. When it deals with policy and doing what's right for this country, they're not there. They have nothing but idiotic rhetoric that only points fingers, but lacks in solutions to any problems. And they basically don't care. They want power. They only care about their own stupid selfishness and greed. In other words, THEY HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER! And never will. But they want to cash in on missteps by the other side.
This is horrible politics, you ask me.
I'm tired of this total stupidity and it should be called out for the transparency it portrays.
Colin its not the fact that he sent lewd pics of himself, he needs to answer to his family for that, but he outright lied to the media. He has lost all respect and has the poorest of judgement. This guy, or anyone like him including Ensign, is not someone that should have the power of representing anyone.
@Mike.......How about that Repugnican caught in the men's room at the Minniapolis airport? Another pillar of the Repugnican 'family values' party ay?
Not only did he lie and show poor judgement, but these idiots, Ensign included, open themselves up for blackmail as well. If that doesn't convince anyone that these idiots should resign as soon as the facts come out, I don't know what would.
Prayer: Please God, please.....don't have Weiner resign.
Thanks, The Republican Party.
Breitbart is certainly no Dan "whats the frequency" Rather.
Maybe Weiner can go back to 'work' and create A Dim budget plan. Its only two years late.
This story gets a big "so what?". It must be a slow news day. No party has a corner on common sense or good taste it appears. The people in his district can handle this.
Now lets get on with the business of seeking solutions for the nation's problems.
There was less commotion over the GREAT STAIN MAKER (a sitting president) when he got caught lying about having sex with an intern in the White House..Enough already with the Wiener stuff..Who cares?..It must be a very slow news week to make this a lead story every hour of the day...
He didn't break any law. He is very popular in his district and will get re-elected.
Noticed how he dodged the phone sex question. Guilty on that one too.
A career gone with a text. What a shame.
Just asking, but isn't sending obscene pictures via the internet or tweeting across state lines considered pornography?
Little Tony Weiner said he didn't even know the women's ages...read the story.They could have been(be) minors! Goodbye leftist extremist!
Every picture tells a story...just LOOK at him. Elitist bastard.
You wanted Weiner to come clean, in your face style? He just did. Now, just let go of Weiner and move on to more pressing issues.
Our country can't be captivated by all this Weiner.