Embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned Thursday, less than three weeks after he mistakenly sent a photo of his underwear-clad crotch to Twitter followers, inadvertently alerting the public and the media to his habit of sending lewd pictures and messages to women on social media sites. A remorseful Weiner announced his resignation at a senior center in his New York City district, his voice nearly drowned out by the clicking of dozens of camera shutters and the shouts of a heckler sent by a radio shock jock.
The New York Democrat, who is serving his seventh term, made the decision Wednesday to leave office after intense and increasing pressure from the top leaders in his own party, including President Obama, who said this week he would resign if he were in Weiner’s position.
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| Chronology of a scandal |
| May 27 – A photograph of a man’s underwear-clad crotch is sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter account to a female college student in Seattle. |
| May 28 – BigGovernment.com first reports the photo, but Weiner denies any knowledge of it. |
| May 29 – Weiner’s congressional office claims his Twitter account was hacked. |
| May 31 – Weiner returns to Capitol Hill complaining to reporters that it was all just a “distraction.” |
| June 1 – In a round of television interviews, Weiner can’t say “with certitude” whether the photo is of him but insists he didn’t send it. He refuses to report the alleged hacking to police. |
| June 2-5 – Weiner refuses to comment on scandal, skips public events. |
| June 6 – After additional photos of Weiner are published, he calls a tearful press conference to admit he had been lying. The photo was of him, he sent it and he had online relationships with at least six women over three years, including after he was married. But he insists he won’t resign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calls for an ethics committee investigation. |
| June 7 – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says: “I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can’t.” Public learns that Weiner had advised porn star and sexting partner Ginger Lee to lie about their communications. |
| June 8 – Public learns Weiner’s wife of 11 months, Huma Abedin, is pregnant. An X-rated Weiner photo surfaces. |
| June 10 – Delaware police investigate Weiner’s contact with a teenage girl, but conclude the messages are “neither explicit nor indecent.” |
| June 11 – Democratic Party leaders, unable to convince Weiner privately to resign, call on him publicly to quit. Weiner said he would take a leave of absence to seek unspecified treatment, but won’t resign. |
| June 12 – New lewd pictures of Weiner, taken inside the House gym, emerge. |
| June 13 – President Obama said that if he were Weiner, he’d resign. |
| June 15 – Weiner phones House Democratic leaders at a White House picnic to say he had decided to resign. |
| June 16 – Weiner resigns. |
On Capitol Hill, top Democrats were preparing to strip Weiner of his one committee assignment on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee if he dared return to Congress. Days earlier, Weiner requested a two-week leave of absence but his fellow Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, made it clear they wanted nothing short of his resignation.
Weiner finally relented, announcing his decision a day after the return of his wife, Huma Abedin, who had been traveling in Africa as a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Hours before his announcement, Weiner’s congressional staff abandoned his Capitol Hill office, locking the door behind them.
“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,” Weiner said at the press conference. “Unfortunately, the distraction that I have created has made that impossible.”
The Weiner scandal has dominated the news on Capitol Hill, making it all but impossible for Democrats to redirect attention to their jobs plan or to their intense criticism of the GOP Medicare plan unpopular with voters.
Weiner first admitted to sending the photos and messages more than a week ago, but instead of fading away, the scandal intensified as new lewd pictures and emails emerged daily, including images Weiner sent of himself, half-naked, in the House gym.
His House colleagues said Thursday they were sorry for Weiner’s situation but that his resignation would benefit the party.
“This helps us to get back to the message,” said Rep. Edolphus Towns, another Democrat representing New York City, who is a friend of Weiner’s.
Weiner gave no indication about what he plans to do next. There was rampant speculation in the House Thursday that he might still run for mayor of New York City or that he might try to win the special election to fill the 9th District seat he just vacated.
Dozens of politicians have been caught in sex scandals over the years, and overall, Democrats have been far more likely to survive politically and make it back to elected office.
“There is no doubt in my mind,” Towns said, “that this is not the end of Mr. Weiner.”
