Anthony Weiner admits he sent lewd photo of himself
By Chris Cillizza
Rep. Anthony Weiner said Monday that he had lied about the origins of a lewd photo sent from his personal Twitter account nine days ago although he added that he would not resign from office because of the scandal.
“I have not been honest with myself,” Weiner said at a press conference in New York City Monday afternoon. “I am deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment.”
Weiner had previously refused to answer about the episode in which a picture of an underwear-clad groin was sent to a college student in Seattle. He said at the press conference that he had meant to send a direct message to the woman and “panicked” when he realized he had sent it out to all of his Twitter followers.
He added that he had engaged in other online relationships with women though no physical contact ever resulted. Asked directly whether there were other x-rated photos of him on the Internet, Weiner declined to comment. He did say “inappropriate things were sent by me” to the women.
In a surreal and circus-like moment, Breitbart actually took to the stage prior to Weiner’s expected statement to address the assembled reporters.
“Everything we have reported about this story has been true,” Breitbart said during the impromptu press conference. Breitbart added that he had “at least one more photo” of the congressman.
Weiner’s press conference was the latest episode in a scandal that had captivated the political world as the New York Congressman, long seen as a rising star within the party, has struggled to deal with the fallout from the picture.
When it began to draw national attention, he said he had been the victim of a “prank” but refused -- in a series of media interviews -- to answer whether the picture of a man’s underwear-clad groin was in fact him.
Rather than blunt the controversy, however, Weiner’s non-denial denials only stirred it further. His pledge to get back to work and offer no more public comment on the matter was disrupted by the new images that surfaced on Monday.
Democratic leaders privately fumed that Weiner’s foibles were overshadowing the party’s broader message on Medicare - particularly in the wake of the surprising victory by Rep. Kathy Hochul in the New York 26th district special election.
Weiner’s 9th district, which takes in parts of Brooklyn and Queens, is surprisingly competitive between the parties although any Democrat would likely be favored in any special election or open seat scenario.
I'm watching the press-conference now. He admits to having mutliple 'online relationships' with women over the years, to lying to the media, to sending at least one lewd picture (and not ruling out others were sent), and to 'deeply disappointing' his wife and family.
How is he NOT resigning? After this who will take him seriously?
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He's probably learned from history that if you just hang in there and continue to do a good job people really don't care that much about your private life so long as you aren't a hypocrite. e.g. Clinton, Frank, et al.
Who the fuck cares if Anthony Weinier has been cybering with the ladies, he's still one of the best congressmen out there.
Darn, I really liked Wiener this is kinda disappointing. Not that he sent the picture or anything but that he I don't really care about that. Instead that he lied so blatantly about it and tried to get away with it for so long. The second reason I'm disappointed is it means for once Brietbart was only a borderline slanderous lying bastard instead of a full on one.
As for why he's not going to resign. Probably because he doesn't have too? He hasn't ran on any sort of family values platform or put himself a pedestal about it or even broke any laws, so why should he resign? Last week when this story first broke Lawrence O'donnell did a really good piece on why he thinks this wont be a big deal for Wiener, just like it wasn't for a dozen other congressmen who've had affairs in the past. I'll try and find it when I'm not at work.
CaptainChewbacca wrote:
I'm watching the press-conference now. He admits to having mutliple 'online relationships' with women over the years, to lying to the media, to sending at least one lewd picture (and not ruling out others were sent), and to 'deeply disappointing' his wife and family.
How is he NOT resigning? After this who will take him seriously?
Probably the same folks who took seriously any of the following: Clinton, Gingrich, Vitter, Lee...
The only astonishing thing here is that Breitbart actually attacked someone who was (setting aside the triviality of the "offense") guilty of the claimed malfeasance.
This is a home run for the GOP. The Dems have lost one of their most fiery voices to this, and because of the puritan nature of American politics I don't see him ever recovering from this incident. He will likely be marginalized, shuffled aside and resign in shame. His weeping apology will not garner sympathy, only mockery and derision from his opponents and the right-wing media.
Sorry everyone. Anthony Weiner as you knew him is gone.
To Absent Friends
Dalton | Admin Smash | Knight of the Order of SDN
"y = mx + bro" - Surlethe
"You try THAT shit again, kid, and I will mod you. I will
mod you so hard, you'll wish I were Dalton." - Lagmonster
Politicians and would-be politicians need to learn that once something is on the internet, you can never get it off the internet. So, sending pictures of your crotch to 20-somethings will come back to haunt you.
As far as Mr. Weiner goes: what the hell was he thinking? Is there any sexual fling that is worth obliterating your career and your homelife for? Especially in the midst of John Edwards' life crashing and burning like it is?
SDNet: Unbelievable levels of pedantry that you can't find anywhere else on the Internet!
Isn't Stewart longtime friends with Weiner? Poor guy.
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Weiner was probably hoping against all hope this would go away quickly but it didn't. It's a damned shame because he was one of the most eloquent pro universal health care people in the debate and now he'll be marginalized. I suspect despite his assurances he's staying onboard the party leaders will probably pressure him to leave. He's nothing more than a distraction and no one will take him seriously after this mess.
Has anyone seen pictures of his wife? She is stunning. What the hell Anthony? Was there any need for this?
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Stravo wrote:Has anyone seen pictures of his wife? She is stunning. What the hell Anthony? Was there any need for this?
Hugh Grant hired a hooker while dating Elizabeth Hurley. There doesn't seem to be any positive correlation between a man's fidelity and the attractiveness of his wife.
I, too, will miss Weiner's fiery speeches from the House floor. It's a shame that he let his honourable member get in the way of an otherwise productive career in politics.
73% of all statistics are made up, including this one.
Thanas wrote:Isn't Stewart longtime friends with Weiner? Poor guy.
They are long timefriends as in on each others Xmas cards list and per some they have each others personal cell numbers, or at least so said Stewart awhile back no idea how serious. But you could tell this week he felt for his friend and to have this happen to him? Oy, poor Daily Show writers, poor John Stewart how do you turn around sticking up for the guy now? Gonna have to watch Cenk tonight on MSNBC because he was seriously on Weiners side because A. It made no kind of damn sense for any sane intelligent person to do this but B. It was Breitbart the guy who has a history of making shit up in order to attack democrats. And now Weiner has given him a legitimate story he's broke meaning he's going to get even more attention in the future.
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
I'm hoping he manages to pull through, take his beating, and continue business. The Right never cared what he said before and they won't care what he said now, but honestly there's so much scandal on both sides of the isle that I can't really say there's a moral high-ground anywhere before or after. I suppose that mythical "political capital" thing that you apparently accumulate might be blown on this, making him less influential, but I don't think this guy had any influence before except for him being one of the better speech-makers. That won't have changed.
Lots of people have had nasty scandals hit them and continue to be effective. The most brutal voter-lynchings come from when Right-wing leaders espouse Traditional Family Values and then get caught with little boys or drug-toting male prostitutes or something.
That's not applicable here so they're likely to just have a field day with this but what can you really say besides the fact that he was a jerk to his family? He didn't invalidate any of his policy points and being a lousy husband doesn't get you kicked out of congress. If only.
I'm amused and disappointed, I really liked his speeches as well, but I'm not at all thrown by the idea someone would do this, nor am I particularly offended in the slightest. I think it's just silly that he managed botch this so poorly online when if he's looking for sexting nonsense you could just do that anonymously rather than the scandalous and hurtful "cheating" ways. Plus, he's married, so extra stupidity points for that.
But being a philanderer doesn't make your policy any less cogent, so whatever. If he were in my district I'd still vote for him. Puritan America didn't elect this guy to begin with, they're currently pining over Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. I'm still hoping the fallout will be minor politically. I don't really weep for some politician's personal life collapsing due to their own indiscretions, but this is a goldmine for the right. Good news is that he wasn't doing a presidential run. Bad news is that he still did lie and attempt a cover-up stupidly.
Mr Bean wrote:Gonna have to watch Cenk tonight on MSNBC
No Cenk tonight, Al Sharpton is hosting.
Seriously? They gave Al a show?
No. The 6PM is currently "unassigned" ever since the Countdown kerfluffle reshuffled our schedule, but Cenk has been doing it for the vast majority of the time. Right now it's branded as MSNBC Live.
To Absent Friends
Dalton | Admin Smash | Knight of the Order of SDN
"y = mx + bro" - Surlethe
"You try THAT shit again, kid, and I will mod you. I will
mod you so hard, you'll wish I were Dalton." - Lagmonster
Al is their new fill in host, he does not have a show but he has filled in for every host. This is suspiciously identical to what they did for Cenk allowing him to host every show from 5pm to 8pm (Except Rachel) then gave him the 7pm time slot. I wonder if they are finally going to take away the 5pm or 7pm edition of Hardball away to give him a show.
*Edit after Daltons post
Seriously? I thought the 6pm slot was Cenk with them just waiting on the network to approve and come up with a show name for them (They can't use Young-Turks as they have that show on CNBC)
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
I haven't heard anything about Cenk getting that slot, but it wouldn't be surprising given how often he's on. Right now though I'm not in the loop regarding any decisions made about that hour.
To Absent Friends
Dalton | Admin Smash | Knight of the Order of SDN
"y = mx + bro" - Surlethe
"You try THAT shit again, kid, and I will mod you. I will
mod you so hard, you'll wish I were Dalton." - Lagmonster
Dalton wrote:I haven't heard anything about Cenk getting that slot, but it wouldn't be surprising given how often he's on. Right now though I'm not in the loop regarding any decisions made about that hour.
I hope Cenk Keeps this slot. His ratings usually range from 550 to about 625. He is currently beating CNN, but is that enough to keep the show? Does anyone know what Tucker Carlson's ratings were at that time slot?
Dalton wrote:I haven't heard anything about Cenk getting that slot, but it wouldn't be surprising given how often he's on. Right now though I'm not in the loop regarding any decisions made about that hour.
I hope Cenk Keeps this slot. His ratings usually range from 550 to about 625. He is currently beating CNN, but is that enough to keep the show? Does anyone know what Tucker Carlson's ratings were at that time slot?
What a stupid asshole. His inability to keep his pants on costs the American center and left another contributor and retroactively invalidates anything he's ever said in the minds of the moron public.
Posted at 05:55 PM ET, 06/06/2011
Pelosi calls for ethics investigation of Weiner’s conduct
By Felicia Sonmez
Updated 7:34 p.m.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Monday for the House ethics committee to investigate whether Rep. Anthony Weiner violated any of the chamber’s rules.
Pelosi said she wanted a determination as to whether “any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred.”
Her action came shortly after the New York Democrat acknowledged to reporters that he had sent a lewd photo from his Twitter account and had conducted “inappropriate” online relationships with at least six women.
“I am deeply disappointed and saddened about this situation; for Anthony’s wife, Huma, his family, his staff and his constituents,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Weiner said Monday night that he would “welcome and will fully cooperate” with an ethics committee investigation.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff and constituents,” he said in a statement.
Republicans immediately sought to put Democrats on the defensive in the wake of Weiner’s admission.
“It’s time for Democratic leadership to explain why Congressman Weiner’s actions never aroused any suspicion, and why they rushed to his defense while so many Americans were shocked and confused by his bizarre and disturbing behavior,” said Paul Lindsay, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Before Weiner’s news conference, the National Republican Senatorial Committee also took aim at Democratic leaders — namely, Sen. Charles E. Schumer — for previously defending his New York colleague.
“Given Senator Schumer’s emphatic statement last week that he was ‘virtually certain’ his protege ‘had nothing to do’ with the recent lewd tweet sent to a 21 year old college student, his current silence over these most recent allegations is notable,” said Brian Walsh, communications director for the NRSC. “Was this yet another instance where Chuck Schumer rushed out to the press armed with less than all the facts on an issue? . . . We look forward to hearing from New York’s media-friendly senior Senator in the hours ahead.”
In a statement released Monday night, Schumer said, “I am deeply pained and saddened by today’s news. By fully explaining himself, apologizing to all he hurt and taking full responsibility for his wrongful actions, Anthony did the right thing. He remains a talented and committed public servant, and I pray he and his family can get through these difficult times.”
And Rep. Steve Israel, another New York Democrat who serves as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, echoed Pelosi’s call for an investigation into Weiner’s conduct.
“Congressman Anthony Weiner engaged in a deep personal failure and inappropriate behavior that embarrassed himself, his family, and the House,” Israel said in a statement. “Ultimately, Anthony and his constituents will make a judgment about his future. To remove all remaining doubt about this situation, I agree with Leader Pelosi’s request that the House Ethics Committee use its authority to begin an investigation.”
Let him land on any Lyran world to taste firsthand the wrath of peace loving people thwarted by the myopic greed of a few miserly old farts- Katrina Steiner
Tanasinn wrote:What a stupid asshole. His inability to keep his pants on costs the American center and left another contributor and retroactively invalidates anything he's ever said in the minds of the moron public.
The Right loves this and will easily use it to smear all liberals and Democrats. Never mind the long list of even worse sexual scandals involving married Republican politicians...
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He said at the press conference that he had meant to send a direct message to the woman and “panicked” when he realized he had sent it out to all of his Twitter followers.
And I'm having a hard time imagining a worse damage-control strategy than the one he used that isn't illegal. If he had just been contrite and apologetic right away, I bet you $20 not a fifth the people who currently care would care. But no, he had to spend a week putting out micromanaged denials, drawing out just enough rope to hang himself.
