Twitter gaffe sinks Congressman Weiner
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), who has admitted to inappropriate online exchanges with women, is expected to resign later today, according to The New York Times and other news outlets.
Embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign his congressional seat later today, The New York Times and other news outlets are reporting.
Citing two people with knowledge of Weiner's plans, the Times said he will make his resignation official at 11 a.m. PT after facing pressure from colleagues in the House of Representatives to step aside.
Weiner made headlines last month when a revealing photo of a man wearing tight-fitting underwear was posted to his Twitter account. The congressman initially claimed that his Twitter account was hacked, but after more images and reports of Weiner engaging in explicit chats with women emerged, the congressman admitted during a press conference last week that he did, in fact, mistakenly tweet the photo.
"To be clear, the picture was of me, and I sent it," Weiner said during the press conference. "I am deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife Huma and our family, and my constituents, my friends, supporters, and staff."
Weiner, who also admitted to having sex-related chats with "about six women" over Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and phone, said at the time that he did not plan on resigning from the House. But over the last week, several prominent lawmakers, including President Barack Obama, have hinted that Weiner should step aside.
Weiner's impending resignation comes just a few months after another New York congressman, Republican Rep. Christopher Lee, voluntarily resigned from the House after responding to a woman's personal ad on Craigslist with a topless photo of himself.