Posted on 06/11/2011 12:44:05 PM PDT by Qbert
A defiant Rep. Anthony Weiner will not resign and will instead seek treatment even as a the top leaders of the Democratic Party abandoned him en masse Saturday after it was revealed that he had communicated online with a 17-year-old Delaware girl.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the party’s top campaign chiefs — Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) — all called on Weiner to resign in statements released within minutes of each other.
But Weiner has ignored those calls and announced Saturday afternoon that he’s seeking “professional treatment.”
“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” Weiner’s office said in a statement provided to POLITICO. “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. Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents.”
Weiner, a New York Democrat, admitted on Monday that he had sent sexually charged text messages and photographs to a series of six women over three years. On Friday, FOX News reported that Wilmington-area police had visited a Delaware teenager to discuss his back-and-forth with her.
Weiner and the girl’s family have told news outlets that there was no indecent communication, but the evidence that he carried on a discussion of any kind with a 17-year-old girl was clearly the final straw for Democratic leaders.
Pelosi and Israel only issued their statements after asking Weiner privately to call it quits, and when he refused, they issued their coordinated barrage on Saturday afternoon.
“They both called him this morning and said ‘you should resign,’ and he didn’t and they issued their statements,” a source familiar with the discussions told POLITICO. “The White House was engaged.”
Patrick Gaspard, the former White House political director, was the point man for the DNC, the source said.
“Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents, and the recognition that he needs help,” Pelosi said Saturday. “I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a Member of Congress.”
A day earlier, Pelosi had declined to call for him to resign after inquiries to her office.
Israel and Wasserman Schultz were less generous in their assessment of their colleague.
“Anthony’s inappropriate behavior has become an insurmountable distraction to the House and our work for the American people. With a heavy heart, I call on Anthony to resign,” Israel said.
Calling the scandal a “sordid affair, Wasserman Schultz, who is a surrogate for President Barack Obama in her role as DNC chairman, said “the behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner’s continued service in Congress is untenable.”
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the Budget Committee Chairman and former DCCC chairman, also joined the calls to resign on Saturday. “Anthony Weiner’s repeated violation of the public trust is unacceptable,” Van Hollen said. “He can best advance the issues he fought for by resigning immediately.”
Weiner’s spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for comment, but it’s now clear that Weiner has virtually no support in the upper echelons of the Democratic Party.
The Weiner scandal is now going into its third weekend after a picture of a man’s crotch was posted on his Twitter account. After spending a week denying that it was him, Weiner held an extraordinary press conference Monday in New York and revealed that he had not only sent that picture, but had conducted sexually charged online relationships with a half dozen women.
And while nobody can force Weiner to resign — short of a formal expulsion from the House, which is extremely rare — if he does return to the House on Monday after a week-long recess, he’ll basically be persona non grata in the Democratic Caucus.
Weiner has informed congressional leaders he plans to seek treatment, according to Democratic insiders, and that was a factor in their decision to urge him to resign, first privately and later publicly.
A “coordinated effort was kicked off once Weiner decided to seek treatment,” a senior Democratic aide told POLITICO. “Leaders have been talking to him all week. His decision to seek treatment, on top of pressure of Sunday shows and members coming back on Monday, all equaled the ultimate decision for the leaders to go today.”
It was also revealed this week that Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin is pregnant — and she’s currently traveling abroad as an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
If Weiner does succumb to pressure and resign, it’s clear that the contact with the 17-year-old girl was the end game.
The girl, whose name was withheld by Fox but who told the reporter she’s “doing OK,” left with her mother and the police, the network said, although it was unclear if there was a further conversation somewhere else.
A Weiner spokeswoman emailed a statement in response to the reports that confirmed his contact with the girl, but denied anything was amiss.
“According to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent,” said the statement.
On Saturday morning, the New York Post and the New York Daily News reported that the New Castle cops had not found anything wrong in Weiner’s exchanges with the teen-ager.
All that time you spent with ol' Crusty, and you didn't learn a damn thing, did you? Got yourself your own political perv.
Stay hard wiener!
Yep now comes the time taxpayers pay for his ‘rehab’ as the PR machine creates a new ‘image’ for him, so he can be elected again or anchor CNN or MSNBC.
Weiner has informed congressional leaders he plans to seek treatment, according to Democratic insiders, and that was a factor in their decision to urge him to resign, first privately and later publicly. A “coordinated effort was kicked off once Weiner decided to seek treatment,” a senior Democratic aide told POLITICO. “Leaders have been talking to him all week. His decision to seek treatment, on top of pressure of Sunday shows and members coming back on Monday, all equaled the ultimate decision for the leaders to go today.”
Come to think of it, I haven’t heard anything out of the N.A.G.s lately. I wonder what they think about all of this.
DA CHICKENS....HAVE COME HOME....TO ROOST
“Hang in there, Tony. You know most of your colleagues are just as bad. Why not take a few down with you?”
Yep- they’ve picked the wrong pervy narcissist to mess with.
The DUmmies are livid. They can’t believe the Weiner is giving in to public criticism. They’re calling it a ‘witch hunt’ and insist he committed no crime.
I want to know what the addiction is? He isnt a sex addict. He doesn’t take drugs or is an alcoholic. This is going to open u a whole chapter in psychiatry.
If he has an addiction is that he is lefty and we all know that is a mental disorder. And I would assume lying and self preservation is part of the disorder.
Maybe he will come out of treatment a conservative....hahaha sometimes I crack myself up.
“What’s interesting about the timeline is that he seems to have told the DNC that he was seeking treatment, THEN they asked him to resign:...”
Great catch.
I’m guessing that can only mean there were more private messages to the teen than they are revealing, and they are terrified of the next shoe dropping.
Can someone tell me what type of treatment is there for the likes of Weiner?
Do they put a chastity belt on him and make him watch porn?
They really,really expected a Wiener to do the 'decent' thing. Liberals are funny like that.
Stick it out, Weenie Man.
Every one of those Dhimmi hypocrites calling for your resignation is every bit as effed up as you are.
Pay no attention, poster boy. We need you!
treatment? for what? according to Chrissy, he’s normal. its those rural conservatives who need to be more open minded
Maybe Chaz Bono should give the Dems a call. She’s in the market for a Weiner and the Dems are trying to get rid of one. It’s a win win!
I’m glad he’s not leaving; his presence in DC will, more than likely, help the GOP.
Weiner...the ultimate New York bad joke. And New Yorkers wonder why others find them a bit odd.
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