Why is weiner resigning

A similar special election took place in New York last month after the resignation in February of Republican Rep. Chris Lee over a Craigslist solicitation that included his shirtless photo. Top leaders from both parties, including President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, had said or suggested that Weiner should step down over the controversy, which has been a major story since the news emerged in late May. Weiner to seek treatment amid growing pressure to resign.

Weiner announced that he was seeking treatment and requested a two-week leave from Congress that was granted without objection. However, Weiner resisted the calls to resign, bolstered by polling that showed a majority of residents in his district wanted him to stay on. With more revelations of the sexually tinged online communications emerging and the story continuing to dominate headlines, Weiner changed his mind this week after his wife, Huma Abedin , returned from an overseas trip with Clinton.

Weiner's wife returns as pressure mounts for his resignation. Weiner called Israel on Wednesday to tell him he was going to resign, said a source familiar with that conversation. Israel, who was at a White House picnic for members of Congress, then got Weiner on the phone with Pelosi, the source said. Israel and Pelosi went near a tree on the White House grounds to talk to Weiner in private, according to the source. Weiner told them that he was resigning and was very remorseful about what he did to his family and his colleagues, especially for causing such a distraction, the source added.

Weiner also told Israel and Pelosi that he had talked to his wife, who is pregnant with the couple's first child. Weiner decision revealed at White House picnic. Pelosi said earlier Thursday that Democratic leaders "respectfully gave him time and his wife came home for them to talk. Back in Weiner's home district, supporters praised the congressman for working on their behalf but criticized his behavior, while opponents said good riddance.

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American tourist shot at Mexico beach resort: 'I thought this is it' 20 minutes ago. His confession triggered a tabloid-style frenzy in print and online that only grew more pronounced a few days later when an X-rated photo of the lawmaker surfaced on a website.

After initially calling for a House ethics committee investigation, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi dramatically ramped up the pressure on Saturday when she joined other party leaders in calling on Weiner to step down. Within hours, Weiner disclosed his plans to enter treatment, and Pelosi's aides made it known that did not negate her demand for a resignation.

Several officials have said in recent days that Weiner was reluctant to make any decision about his career without speaking with his wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who had been overseas since shortly after the scandal broke.

The trip ended Tuesday night. The Democrat's decision to leave Congress marks at least an ignominious pause if not an end in a once-promising career. Weiner ran for New York mayor in , and had talked of seeking the office again. But cable news missed that bit.

Obviously the intense pressure from Democrats, including Obama, Pelosi and the powerful chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Steve Israel, has taken its toll. Weiner himself said that his wife, Huma Abedin, had supported him.

But possibly she changed her mind after returning from an overseas trip in her role as an aide to Hillary Clinton. And the news that she was pregnant may have played a part. Top plausible conspiracy theory of the day is the thought that New York City was due to lose a congressional seat due to population changes, and so that Weiner's seat was in danger of being redistricted into oblivion.

Weiner plans to resign in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, at 2pm, at the spot where he announced his first campaign for City Council in , according to two people told of his plans. The news comes as Democratic leaders prepared to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss whether to strip the year-old congressman of his committee assignments, a blow that would severely damage his effectiveness.

Ms Pelosi had called for an ethics investigation into Mr. Weiner's actions. Mr Weiner began telling his most trusted advisers about his decision on Wednesday night by phone, informing them that it no longer seemed fair to his constituents and his colleagues for him to remain in office. Mr Weiner, a Democrat, came to the conclusion that he could no longer serve after having long discussions with his wife, Huma Abedin, when she returned home on Tuesday after traveling abroad with her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I mean, anger. The next CNN presenter immediately starts talking about "half-nude Weiner pictures" and playing clips of David Letterman makes Weiner gags. If he does step down as of now, that means another special election in New York state, the third in two years caused by a sex scandal. A little further back there was Eliot Spitzer. Something in the water? Lee, from La Vergne, Tennessee, said the pair exchanged about emails between March and June, but said she never received photos from Weiner and never sent him any.

She said she followed him on Twitter because she liked his stance on Planned Parenthood funding and health care, and that he repeatedly tried to turn the conversation into sexual banter.

Another email said "I have wardrobe demands too — I need to highlight my package. Lee said as Weiner's Twitter scandal was unfolding, the married lawmaker gave her a statement to put out, which read: "I haven't met Rep Weiner.

I have been hounded by his political opponents, but that hasn't changed my view of him and what he fights for. Lee said she was happy to talk to the congressional ethics investigation that was underway — and Weiner would have been in trouble because he asked Lee to cover up their epistolary relationship.

Democratic leaders in the US House of Representatives on Thursday said they would try to force a vote on a China currency bill that House members overwhelmingly approved last year but that died in the Senate. This is such a horrible thing to have happened in the US Congress at a time when Republicans are the dominant voice.

He's been at the forefront of the health care debate and actually calls out the Republicans on how they're bought and paid for by the insurance industry. Just watch him on YouTube and you'll see what I mean. Now we Democrats only have one congressman who will actually speak out and tell the truth and that's Bernie Sanders. It's a sad day, yet another man ruined by his carnal desires.