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.
I think that’s accidental, the appearance of checking her out, because I don’t think he cares much about what he seems to be looking at. If he did, we’d be hearing about girlfriends before Michelle—and there doesn’t seem to be any. However, highly amusing photo—especially with Maurice Chevalier looking on. Thank heaven for little girls...
Nothing indecent about a man in late 40's having private talks with a 17 year old girl. No siree.
I found it interesting that Schumer, who was Weiners mentor, never came out to support him. What does Schumer know and when did he know it...
Dibs on “Defiant Wieners” if I ever start a band.
Huma hasn’t spoken publicly, has she? We only have Weiner’s word she is standing by him and we know what a truthful guy he is. Maybe she’s jumped ship, she always has Hilary to fall back on.
Indeed. I don't get how the term 'witch hunt' applies when the Weiner has admitted to his transgressions.
Huma’s location tell’s u everything u need to know about her marriage to the Weiner.
i.e. she’s with her butch lover and not with her husband.
Can u say SHAM MARRIAGE?
Great post. Narcissists interact socially with others but they don’t form relational social bonds which matches Weiner and explains why there’s few supporting him. Narcissists don’t like being ‘owned’ therefore the they reduce all of those around them as non-human objects and this basically describes the marxist. I honestly doubt that there could be much love between Tony and his wife.
And I wonder what the little birdy knows about the other DM's... (photo: waow.images.worldnow.com)
Or, at least, give himself enough time to get a better camera.
Dumb can be treated but stupid goes all the way to the bone
Rangel was the only one who came out to support Weiner and that’s probably because Weiner contributed campaign money to support crook Rangel’s defense.
http://mobile.salon.com/politics/war_room/2011/06/10/anthony_weiner_mailer/index.html
Excerpt:
Cohen, a lawyer who ran in ‘91 with the support of a citywide labor/progressive coalition, had been one of the two favorites in the race, along with Michael Garson. Weiner, then a 26-year-old aide to the local congressman, Charles Schumer, was the underdog.
“Anthony had no credential whatsoever, other than that he worked for Chuck,” Cohen said. “He was a college graduate from the state university and went to work for Chuck and then ran. What bothered me the most is that I thought you needed a credential to run for public office, so I actually went to law school, so that I would know what I was doing. So at the time, it bothered me that this kid who was the same age as my kids had no credential whatsoever.”
The same Weiner swagger that viewers of cable news are now familiar with was on display even back then.
“I know that he had more nerve than I had,” Cohen recalled. “I would stand outside a supermarket and hand out literature. It’s private property — one doesn’t go in there. And he walked right past me, walked right in and shook everybody’s hand and walked out. Got a lot more hands shook that way. So I remember that.”
She added: “He’s very self-confident. A credit to his mother — I mean, how do you turn out that self-confident, that you’re going to do what I’m hearing he’s done and think that it’s not going to affect you and your career and your wife? I feel really bad for her and her parents.”
When the Jackson/Dinkins mailer went out a few days before the ‘91 primary, Cohen and her lawyer tried in vain to stop it. She recalled coming home the Friday before the primary and being told by her daughter that Schumer had called to say that he had nothing to do with it. A few hours later, he called again and personally conveyed this to Cohen, who still has her doubts.
“It was just a little too ‘The lady doth protest too much,’” she said.
Weiner ended up winning in a tight race, finishing 125 votes ahead of Garson and 195 ahead of Cohen. Does Cohen believe the mailer made the difference?
“Yeah. Oh yeah. 195 votes? You reminded me — thanks a lot.”
“I’ve pondered on the fact that I’ve never, ever, ever met Jesse Jackson,” she said. “And I’d carefully distanced myself — as much as I could could while being respectful — from [Dinkins]. He was the mayor. One shouldn’t be trashed for respecting the mayor of the city of New York.”
Weiner went on to serve seven years on the City Council before moving up to Congress in 1998. Cohen ended up winning a seat in the state Assembly, where she served for nearly a decade before returning to private law practice in 2006. If the outcome of their ‘91 race had been different, she admits, “I might be in Congress.”
I asked her what she think the future holds for Weiner now.
“I don’t know how he could make a living,” Cohen said. “Will lobbying firms hire him? He’d probably make a good lobbyist.”
What about television?
“He might be able to. He’s very glib. He’s very glib, so he could. I don’t know. I went back to practicing law. Quietly. But I don’t think he could live a quiet life.
“I think he should hold his head in shame and resign and go off into a corner,” she said. “I think what he did is so disgraceful. He brought disgrace on himself and his family and his constituents. But if he runs again, he’ll win. Because the most familiar name wins, and his name is only becoming more familiar. And he’ll put out whatever kind of stuff it’ll take to get him to win. Whoever runs against him: Beware. You have to be an angel.”
I’m not yet convinced she is pregnant. But if she is pregnant that would indicated there has been intimacy. She is of an age where this baby could be her last chance at motherhood. If that’s why she married him she doesn’t need him anymore. We only have Weiner saying they have no plans to separate. Given his capacity for denial I’ve got to wonder if she has really agreed to stand by him.
I'm thinking a good beating would about cover it.
Ah yes, the famous and SO often used “I’ll seek treatment” BS from leftist sleazebags. And now the leftist media will become SOOOOOOOOOO understanding and SOOOOOOOOOO willing to defend the poor victim of an ILLNESS because he is going to seek treatment!!!! What a GOOOOOOOOOD person he is, to seek treatment, after all. Can’t criticize those who seek treatment now can we!!
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