Key dates in the Anthony Weiner scandal

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, has been under fire ever since a lewd photo appeared on his Twitter account last month. Considered one of the leading liberal voices in the House, the seven-term congressman is now battling for his political life.
Here are key dates in the snowballing scandal:

-- May 27, 2011: A lewd photo appears briefly on Weiner's Twitter account. Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart is first to report the image, which shows the bulging crotch of a man in his underwear. The story goes viral.

-- May 30, 2011: The congressman tells reporters a hacker got control of his social networking account. "Look, this is a prank and not a terribly creative one," Weiner says. A spokesman says the congressman has retained an attorney to look into the situation, but Capitol Police and the FBI tell CNN they are not investigating.

-- May 31, 2011: Weiner repeatedly dodges reporters' questions about the Twitter post, saying the matter is a distraction and undeserving of further attention. "I'm going to get back to the conversation I care about," he says. Weiner declines to answer whether he is the man in the photo.

-- June 1, 2011: Weiner tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he did not post the picture and says he has hired a law firm to investigate. He continues to evade the question as to whether the now-notorious photo is of him.

-- June 3, 2011: Weiner cancels a speech he was scheduled to make at the Wisconsin Democratic Party convention. Privately, members of the House Democratic leadership begin to push Weiner to end what many now see as an unwelcome diversion.

-- June 6, 2011: In an abrupt about-face, a tearful Weiner apologizes for falsely claiming that his Twitter account was hacked and admits to having engaged in inappropriate relationships with several women he met online. He tells reporters he will not resign, nor does he plan to separate from his wife. "To be clear, the picture was of me, and I sent it," Weiner says.

-- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi calls for an ethics committee investigation to determine if government resources were used or House rules violated in Weiner's online relationships. The congressman claims he does not believe he used any government resources, but says he would "welcome and fully cooperate" with a probe.
Earlier in the day, conservative blogger Breitbart published new images that purportedly showed Weiner shirtless.

-- June 7, 2011: Democratic leaders begin to turn on Weiner. "I wish there was some way I could defend him, but I can't," says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. Two House Democrats say they will donate campaign contributions from the embattled congressman to charity.

-- June 8, 2011: Tim Kaine, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, calls on Weiner to resign, becoming the first prominent Democrat to publicly demand his resignation. A photo that blogger Breitbart claims shows the naked genitals of Weiner finds its way to the Internet.

-- June 9, 2011: Sen. Patrick Leahy adds his voice to calls for Weiner to resign from his seat in the House. Weiner says he has no plans to step down and that his wife wants him to stay in Congress, according to a Democratic source. A Marist College poll shows that a majority of registered voters in Weiner's district -- 56% -- don't believe he should resign.

CNN learns that Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, are expecting their first child.
-- June 11, 2011: The head of the Democratic National Committee calls for Weiner's resignation, as does House Democratic leader Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Steve Israel.

Weiner decides to seek treatment "to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person" and will ask for a "short leave of absence" from Congress, his spokeswoman says. It was not clear what type of treatment he would undergo.

-- June 12, 2011: TMZ publishes photos of Weiner, in various states of undress, which he apparently took of himself in a locker room. TMZ reports that they were taken in the House members' gym and sent to at least one woman. Weiner's office had no immediate comment, and CNN could not confirm the details as reported by TMZ.

 

As calls for Weiner’s resignation grow, new photos surface

One day after senior Democratic lawmakers called on Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign, nearly a dozen new suggestive photos taken by the New York lawmaker surfaced online.
The photos, first reported by the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com, show Weiner posing in front of mirrors in the House gym and, in some of them, grabbing his crotch. In one of the photos, Weiner is wearing nothing but a towel held over his groin.
According to TMZ, Weiner sent the photos to at least one woman online. A Weiner spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The photos come nearly a week after Weiner, a seven-term congressman representing Brooklyn and Queens, acknowledged that he had lied in an effort to cover up his inappropriate online communications with at least six women across the country. In the days since Weiner’s admission, more photos of the congressman and accounts of his online interactions with various women have surfaced, including one report Friday that Delaware police were questioning a 17-year-old girl about her communications with the lawmaker. Weiner’s office has said that his interactions with the student “were neither explicit nor indecent.”
Despite calls from top Democrats for his resignation as well as a potential ethics committee investigation, Weiner has said he has no plans to give up his seat. He announced through a spokeswoman on Saturday that he is seeking unspecified professional treatment.
That announcement did little to quell debate over the Weiner saga, which appears likely to intensify further as the House returns this week from a week-long recess.
Sunday morning on “Meet the Press,” Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, one of several party leaders who on Saturday issued a call for Weiner to resign, faced no shortage of questions on the controversy in her first televised debate with her GOP counterpart, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
Asked by host David Gregory what Democratic leaders can do if Weiner insists on holding onto his seat, Wasserman Schultz said that the final decision is Weiner’s to make.
“Well, at the end of the day, a member of Congress makes their own decision, and that’s certainly going to be up to Anthony Weiner,” she said. “But we have made it clear that he needs to resign. He needs to focus on getting his own personal issues in order, focus on his family and do the right thing by his constituents.”
Wasserman Schultz added that she had spoken briefly with Weiner last week and described the congressman as “incredibly apologetic” and “devastated that this is conduct that he has been engaged in.”
House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who was not among the Democratic leaders on Saturday calling on Weiner to step aside, said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he hoped the scandal-ridden congressman would reflect during his leave of absence on whether or not to give up his seat, although he stopped short of calling for Weiner’s resignation outright.
“It seems to me extraordinarily difficult that he can proceed to represent his constituents in an effective way given the circumstances this bizarre behavior has led to,” said Hoyer, the number-two House Democrat.

More Photos and More Calls for Anthony Weiner to Resign

Breaking News!!

http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/anthony_weine ...

On Sunday TMZ.com published new photos it had obtained of Weiner took of himself using his Blackberry and a mirror.

CBS News has confirmed through Congressional sources that the backdrop of the pictures - which show Weiner shirtless, in a towel - is the House Members Gym, in the basement of the Rayburn House Office Building. Pictures were taken on the gym floor and in the locker room.

TMZ says the pictures were forwarded to at least one woman.

New revealing photographs of Representative Anthony D. Weiner — these reportedly taken in the locker room of the Congressional gym — were posted on the Internet on Sunday even as Democratic leaders in the House again called for Mr. Weiner to step down.
Pressure on Mr. Weiner to leave the House, and spare the Democratic Party from an increasingly embarrassing scandal, had been building all week, but intensified on Friday, after it was revealed that Mr. Weiner had traded private messages with a 17-year-old girl in Delaware. Ms. Pelosi called for Mr. Weiner to resign on Saturday, shortly after he said he was entering a psychological treatment center and seeking a leave of absence from the House to deal with a pattern of reckless online behavior with women.

It's Too Late, U.S. Already 'Defaulting'

As lawmakers scramble to cut a budget deal and avoid defaulting on U.S. debt, the head of a top Chinese rating agency claims it's too late.

Guan Jianzhong, president of Dagong Global Credit Rating Co. Ltd., reportedly told state media that the United States has already defaulted by letting the U.S. dollar weaken.

"In our opinion, the United States has already been defaulting," Guan was quoted as saying, according to AFP.

China, likewise, has long come under criticism for allowing its currency to weaken. But while Dagong Global is known for being tough on the U.S., Guan's words carry extra sting as they follow warnings from three top rating agencies about U.S. finances.

Fitch is the latest to warn the U.S. that its sterling credit rating could be at risk if it fails to raise its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling or fails to rein in its long-term deficits.

Moody's and Standard & Poor's have already issued similar warnings.

Meanwhile, lawmakers and White House officials are stepping up the pace of budget negotiations as they try to reach a deal that will persuade Congress to lift the debt ceiling by Aug. 2 -- the deadline Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has given lawmakers. After that date, Geithner warns, he would run out of ways to avoid a devastating default on U.S. obligations.

Some Republicans, while wanting to avoid default, claim the administration could extend that deadline further by making severe and immediate spending cuts elsewhere.

Police Investigate Weiner's Messages to Teenage Girl

Hmmmm, I wonder if Anthony Weiner will have to be registered as a sex offencer.

Representative Anthony D. Weiner said on Friday that he exchangeddozens of private messages on Twitter this spring with a 17-year-old Delaware girl who became an admirer of his after hearing him speak during a high school trip to Washington.

“Sadly, the Internet is the predator’s venue of choice today. We need to
update our strategies and our laws to stop these offenders who are a
mere click away from our children.”–Anthony Weiner

NEW CASTLE, Del. -- Police here are investigating direct online communications between New York Rep. Anthony Weiner and a 17-year-old girl and are looking for any other young women who may be involved, though the nature of the communications wasn't immediately clear.

The police probe comes as Weiner, who is married, fends off calls from both sides of the aisle in Congress for him to quit after he admitted to lying about his inappropriate online and phone communications with a half dozen women.

Two officers from the New Castle County Police Department arrived at the high school junior's home around 4:30 p.m. Friday and asked to speak with the girl's mother about the daughter's contact with Weiner, the disgraced Democrat. Another officer appeared at the home a short time later. A FoxNews.com reporter was at the home when the police arrived.

The girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, told FoxNews.com, "I'm doing OK."

The police left the home after about 30 minutes, followed by the daughter and mother, who left in a separate car. It was not clear if the mother and daughter were going to continue the conversation with police at another location.

At a news conference Monday, Weiner responded to mounting reports of inappropriate online communications by admitting he had sent lewd photos and sexually suggestive messages to six women through social networking sites over a three-year period.

Those women were all adults, "to the best of my knowledge," he said, though he admitted that he couldn't know for sure. "All I know is what they publish about themselves in social media," he said.

The confession came after Weiner had lied for a week about how a photo of his bulging underwear was sent to all of his Twitter followers before he quickly deleted it. Weiner claimed his Twitter account was hacked and that he was the victim of a prank. In fact, he had intended to send the photo to a 21-year-old college student but accidentally made it public.

Weiner Scandal Is a Case of Bad Timing for Democrats

President Obama was trying hard to get his economic message out on Wednesday. But thanks to Anthony D. Weiner, he really had no chance.
Even as Mr. Obama was talking about his efforts to “rebuild the middle class,” more graphic pictures of Mr. Weiner were popping up online. Cable news channels picked apart the scandal throughout the day, virtually ignoring Mr. Obama’s remarks at Northern Virginia Community College.
And if there was any doubt about what would dominate the evening talk shows it was swept away with the late-afternoon news that Mr. Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, is pregnant.
For Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies, the latest sex scandal involving a congressman from New York is a politically damaging moment that has come at an inopportune time.
It has helped to stop cold the successful Medicare attacks that Democrats had been flinging at Republicans. And it has prevented Mr. Obama and his Capitol Hill allies from responding effectively to the very bad economic reports that came out at the end of last week.
The frustration was evident on Wednesday as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers and officials began urging Mr. Weiner to step down, if only, they seemed to suggest, to clear the way for a discussion about something else — anything else.
“Lying is unforgivable,” said Tim Kaine, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and now a United States Senate candidate in Virginia. “Lying publicly about something like this is unforgivable, and he should resign.”
Representative Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania, a top official at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, issued a statement saying: “Having the respect of your constituents is fundamental for a member of Congress. In light of Anthony Weiner’s offensive behavior online, he should resign.”
At the White House, Jay Carney, the press secretary, gamely stuck to his script as a reporter asked about the biggest news of the day.
“We have no comment on that story,” Mr. Carney said, moving quickly to a reporter with a question about oil production.
But when you are president, even news that has nothing to do with you can affect your ability to set the agenda. And Mr. Obama has had a string of bad luck when it comes to the timing of his message as president.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; the Florida pastor who threatened to burn a Koran; the controversy over the comments of a worker at the Agriculture Department; the Virginia couple who sneaked into Mr. Obama’s first state dinner — all were distractions that at least briefly knocked the White House off message.
The scandal involving Mr. Weiner could have a direct impact on New York politics. It seems that the congressman’s dreams of running for mayor of New York City are likely to be dashed.
And there are, of course, the inevitable attempts by Republicans to taint Democrats for their association with Mr. Weiner. Several e-mails by Republican operatives this week pointed out the Democratic officials who had not rushed to condemn Mr. Weiner’s actions.
But Republicans have had, if anything, more sex scandals recently than Democrats, so those attempts may have little lasting impact. Instead, the broader damage may be to the Democratic efforts to build some positive election momentum in a year when the economic situation seems likely to continue to be grim.
Mr. Obama’s approval numbers, which had been boosted for a time by the killing of Osama bin Laden, have crashed back to where they were before the military action — hovering just under 50 percent.
And the Democratic attacks on Republicans for wanting to “end Medicare as we know it” — from, among others, Mr. Weiner himself — have been replaced by Republican demands that Democrats distance themselves from Mr. Weiner and return campaign funds they received from him.
How much has what some in the media have inevitably dubbed Weinergate affected the political conversation in Washington? A phone call this week with a Democratic operative was focused primarily on Mr. Weiner and whether or not he could survive the building scandal.
As the conversation was about to end, the operative blurted the word “Medicare” out of the blue.
It was an attempt, he explained to the confused reporter, to be able to sleep well at night knowing that he had at least tried to get a reporter to write about what he considers the best issue for Democratic candidates. Given the news about Mr. Weiner, he admitted that he knew that it would not work.
“I still gotta try,” he said.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/weiner-scandal-is-a-case-of-bad-timing-for-democrats/

Representative Anthony D. Weiner

It was nearly 9 p.m. on a Friday when Ms. Cordova, who was preparing to head out for the night with a friend, logged onto Twitter and discovered that Representative Anthony D. Weiner had sent her a suggestive photo of himself in gray boxer briefs.
“It didn’t make any sense,” Ms. Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in northwestern Washington State, said in her first extensive interview since Mr. Weiner confessed in a news conference Monday to sending her the photo. “I figured it must have been a fake.”
Ms. Cordova’s experience with Mr. Weiner appears to fit a pattern: in rapid and reckless fashion, he sought to transform informal online conversations about politics and partisanship into sexually charged exchanges, at times laced with racy language and explicit images.
Ms. Cordova, who had traded messages with Mr. Weiner, a New York Democrat, about their shared concern over his conservative critics, said she had never sent him anything provocative. Asked if she was taken aback by his decision to send the photo, she responded, “Oh gosh, yes.”
Ms. Cordova spoke to The New York Times as Mr. Weiner faced intensifying calls for his resignation because of his acknowledged online sexual communications with at least six women over the last three years. On Wednesday, House leaders began a concerted effort to persuade Mr. Weiner to step down, worried that the sensational coverage of his online sexual liaisons had created political chaos and was subjecting the Democratic Party to ridicule.
The women who have acknowledged encountering Mr. Weiner on social media and then having personal communications with him varied in age, race and location, and even in their willingness to engage the congressman in sexual discourse. But in each case Mr. Weiner’s online conduct in many ways mirrored that of his offline life — he was aggressive, blunt, feisty and willing to push boundaries with an apparent disregard for the possible consequences.
The women came to his attention after he had come to theirs. Usually they were admirers of his scrappy progressive politics and youthful energy, and either posted an enthusiastic comment on his Facebook page or sent him an admiring Twitter message.
Ms. Cordova was first impressed with Mr. Weiner after she saw him take on Representative Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party-backed Republican from Minnesota, on Fox News’s “Hannity.” Ms. Cordova and her boyfriend thought the congressman was smart and funny, and they both started following him on Twitter.
“I tweeted words of support for him as a politician, and I retweeted his tweets often beginning around early to mid-April,” Ms. Cordova said, in a series of conversations by phone and e-mail over the past two days.
She added that in mid-April, “he thanked me for the support” using a direct message — a private note sent via Twitter — and he then signed up as her follower on Twitter, meaning that he could easily read all of her posts.
Ms. Cordova said that after Mr. Weiner began following her, critics of the congressman started sending her harassing messages. She said she then began communicating, always electronically, with the congressman about their shared annoyance with those critics.
Ms. Cordova provided a portion of her communications with Mr. Weiner to The Times, in which they messaged back and forth about the online detractors and their tactics. But Ms. Cordova would not make all of her interaction with him available for review.
“I have not sent him any suggestive messages,” Ms. Cordova said.
She said she was, however, surprised by his informal tone. “He was just very casual,” she said. “It wasn’t like talking to a U.S. congressman.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Weiner did not dispute Ms. Cordova’s account.
Mr. Weiner, at his news conference on Monday, said he had sent Ms. Cordova the underwear photo “as part of a joke.” But Ms. Cordova said the image was not in keeping with the tenor of their previous interactions.
“I still didn’t get the joke part of it,” she said.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/nyregion/weiners-pattern-turning-political-admirers-into-online-pursuits.html?_r=2&hp

Anthony Weiner's Nude Pics

 Let's not minimize the lack of judgement. Does anyone need a list? Start with lying to the public, lying to a new wife. Being bent enough to do it in the first place. Behavior like this can lead to blackmail. This guy should not be given any public trust. Let him lead any life he wants to, just not ANY public office.

Anthony Weiner's  Nude Pic

                             Anthony Weiner from New York's 9th 



This guy is so pathetic !

 “Weinergate” Twitter scandal

 May 5, 2011

It is incredible that some people think that it is okay what this foolish man did!  People, pay attention.  In his job, he is responsible for some very, very important decisions that are being made regarding all of us, our country!  If this idiot doesn't even have the common sense to understand that what he has done online is just wrong, then how on earth can he be capable of making very important decisions that affect all of us?   Mr. Weiner needs to resign!  There is no place in our government for perverts like him!

Anthony Weiner is a predator, preying on young woman

Rep. Barney Frank(D) managed to stay on even after the perverse scandal in his basement and now the entire economy is in crisis due in large to the country's banking & mortgage fiasco which (Dodd &) Frank instigated as Chairman of the House committee which presided over throughout the disastrous decline.

Anthony Weiner is a predator, preying on young woman. Weiner is a pig who abuses his power as a congressman. He should resign and if he sticks around there be a chorus of fellow congressman to tell him to resign or be removed in his official capacity.

Congressman Anthony Weiner Twitter account

Weiner has no morals, no decency, no manners, no decorum, no scruples, no principles, no respect and certainly no ethics, yet Pelosi wants an "investigation" that will cost how many taxpayer dollars? He will be branded for the rest of his life with a graphical trademark in the image of a...wiener and he only has himself to blame.


Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) owes it to the people of New York to resign.
Clinging to his office until his fingernails turned white, Weiner held a press conference on Monday and confessed to making a mistake. This was his latest attempt to silence a week of speculation about a photograph of his crotch that made its way to a Seattle coed via Weiner’s Twitter account. First he claimed his account had been hacked; on Monday he admitted that he took and sent the lewd crotch shot himself.
What was the apology about? He said he loves his wife, but his conduct was not loving. His behavior humiliated her. He has always treated women with contempt, when he was single and now that he is married.
Was it an aberration? No. He admitted to sexual prowling on the internet for three years. This is who he is. It is a pattern of conduct. Sleazy conduct.
At no point during the press conference or in the preceding week did integrity make an appearance. He lied as long as he could, then said he made a mistake. That’s a weasel word. It is reminiscent of how President Bill Clinton discussed his sexual escapade with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. What Weiner actually meant was he made a political mistake. He got caught lying about who he is. “Mistake” masks the importance of the personal crime.
It is apparent he can no longer effectively advocate for the people of New York or the policies he claims to support. He is a leading advocate for the Obama health law, but how can he advocate for it when he is no longer considered a person of sound judgment or moral values?
Congressman Chris Lee of New York’s 26th Congressional District resigned earlier this year when his sexual escapades on the Internet were uncovered. He was the latest in a long string of New York love pols, including Congressman Vito Fossella and Gov. Eliot Spitzer, to leave office in order to spare the state such distractions.
This isn’t about parties or politics. Anthony Weiner should resign also. Too bad his ambition is bigger than his integrity. Perhaps he can become the new head of the International Monetary Fund.

Anthony Weiner's lewd Twitter photo

WASHINGTON - In the nano-second it takes to send a tweet, Rep. Anthony Weiner's political career has short-circuited.
From the moment a lewd photograph of bulging briefs was sent to a 21-year-old college student from Weiner's Twitter account last Friday, the married congressman has been on the defensive.
He first tried to laugh it off, then did a blitz of media interviews in which he insisted he didn't send the photo - but couldn't be 100% sure that it wasn't his crotch shot.
In between nonanswers, he oddly tossed out double-entendres and Weiner jokes.
"He's a Shakespearean figure in some ways. All the traits that make him a star - intelligence, wit, humor, his belief he can quip his way out of anything - trip him up," said one former colleague.
Weiner, the once and likely future city mayoral candidate, had been a darling of the liberal left since the national health care debate, when he made a quixotic stand on the House floor for single-payer health care.
That move - independent and smart - was vintage Weiner, friends said, but also under-scored his love of the spotlight.
So his ditching of a planned speech before Wisconsin Democrats Friday - he told organizers he needed to spend time with his family, including his Washington insider wife, Huma Abedin - highlighted how messy the fallout was, pals said.
The online drama began May 27 when the photo appeared in his Twitter stream addressed to journalism student Gennette Cordova of Seattle, making it visible to all of his more than 40,000 Twitter followers.
The photo was a crotch shot of a man in form-fitting underwear that left little to the imagination. It was quickly deleted, and Weiner tweeted that he had been hacked.
"More Weiner Jokes for all my guests," he wrote.
By Sunday, Weiner's spokesman Dave Arnold was resolute: "This is intended to be a distraction and we're not going to let it become one. Anthony's accounts were obviously hacked. He doesn't know the person named by the hacker, and we will be consulting on waht steps to take next."
Cordova, when interviewed last Sunday by the Daily News, said she had never met Weiner and simply followed him on Twitter along with other famous people.
"All of this is so outlandish that I don't know whether to be pissed off or amused, quite frankly," she said.
By Monday, Weinter gate showed no signs of stopping. Weiner and his staff again called it a "distraction" and termed it a "prank" - but stopped short of denying that the congressman was in the photo.
Liberal websites targeted conservative blogger Dan Wolf, who uses the handle "patriotusa76," as the person who spotted the photo among Weiner's tweets and sent it to biggovernment.com, which broke the story.

It's My D*ck in A Tweet Anthony Wiener

The service which handles video and picture uploading information for Twitter has released a statement saying that Wiener's account was not accessed from any devices or IP addresses which typically access it. He clearly did it.


 Tweet Anthony Wiener