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发帖数: 3978 | 1 发信人: pacific (hh), 信区: Military
标 题: Weiner admits lying about lewd photo, won't quit
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Mon Jun 6 20:11:30 2011, 美东)
好像刘醇逸又少了个对手
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Anthony Weiner AP – U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-NY, addresses a news
conference in New York, Monday, June 6, 2011. …
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner confesses to tweeting lewd photo Slideshow:U.S.
Rep. Anthony Weiner confesses to tweeting lewd photo
Rep. Anthony Weiner's Emotional Apology Play Video Video:Rep. Anthony
Weiner's Emotional Apology ABC News
Rep. Weiner admits tweeting lewd photo Play Video Video:Rep. Weiner
admits tweeting lewd photo AP
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press – 4 mins ago
NEW YORK – A tearful Rep. Anthony Weiner on Monday admitted sending a lewd
photo of his underwear-clad crotch to a young woman over Twitter and then
lying repeatedly to protect himself. In a flash of defiance, Weiner refused
to resign even as Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called for a House ethics
investigation into whether he broke the rules.
The extraordinary confession at a packed Manhattan news conference was a
remarkable turn of events for the brash Weiner, who conceded to a "hugely
regrettable" lapse in judgment. House Democratic leaders tersely expressed
disappointment and embarrassment, reflecting an erosion of support for the
46-year-old New York congressman and casting doubts on whether Weiner could
hold onto his House seat let alone turn a once-promising political career
into a 2013 bid for mayor.
Weiner insisted he had done nothing wrong and said he would fully cooperate
with a House inquiry.
"People who draw conclusions about me are free to do so," Weiner said. "I've
worked for the people of my district for 13 years and in politics for 20
years and I hope they see fit to see this in the light that it is."
But in a new twist, the married Weiner also acknowledged that he had engaged
in inappropriate contact with six women over the course of three years
through social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and occasionally
over the phone. He said he had never met or had a physical relationship with
any of the women and was not even sure of their ages. He also said he had
never had sex outside of his marriage.
The news conference, unusually blunt even by New York standards, went on
nearly half an hour and capped a week of double-entendre, tabloid-headlines
and late-night jokesters' snide comments. With eyes welling and voice
breaking, Weiner fielded questions from dozens of shouting reporters as the
cameras clicked.
Weiner said over and over that he had made "terrible mistakes" and done "a
very dumb thing" for which he alone bore responsibility, and he apologized
repeatedly to his wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"My wife is a remarkable woman. She's not responsible for any of this," he
said. "I apologize to her very deeply."
Abedin did not attend his news conference, but Weiner said they would not be
separating over the scandal.
Among the women Weiner contacted, Meagan Broussard, told ABC News that
Weiner "friended" her on Facebook after she commented on one of his speeches
posted online on April 20. They exchanged more than 100 messages, and
Weiner constantly tried to steer the conversation toward sex.
"I don't think he's a bad guy. I think he's got issues just like everybody
else," Broussard, 26, said in an interview aired Monday night.
During Weiner's news conference, the lawmaker confirmed that Broussard was
one of the women with which he had exchanged messages.
The scandal began more than a week ago when a conservative website reported
that a photo of a man's crotch had been sent from Weiner's Twitter account
to a college student in Seattle.
For days, Weiner claimed that he hadn't sent the photo and that he was the
victim of a hacker. But he caused guffaws when he said that he couldn't say
with "certitude" that the underwear shot was not a picture of him.
The scandal escalated Monday when the website, BigGovernment.com, run by
conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, posted photos purportedly from a
second woman who said she received shirtless shots of the congressman. The
site said the pictures were in a cache of intimate online photographs, chats
and email exchanges the woman claimed to have. The website did not identify
the woman.
One photo showed Weiner on a couch with two cats nearby. The website said
Weiner sent the photo using the anthonyweiner(at)aol.com account with the
subject line "Me and the pussys."
Also, the celebrity website RadarOnline.com said a woman claimed to have 200
sexually explicit messages from Weiner through a Facebook account that
Weiner no longer uses. It was not clear whether the woman who claimed to
have the new photo was the person who claimed to have received the text
messages.
At Monday's news conference, Weiner said he sent the underpants photo as a
joke and called it a "hugely regrettable mistake."
"I haven't told the truth and have done things I deeply regret," he said. "I
brought pain to people I care about."
Genette Cordova, 21, the intended recipient of the crotch photograph, is a
college student in Washington state. Weiner said he and Cordova had
exchanged a few messages before he sent the photo May 27, which he said was
intended to be "a joke."
In a strange twist, Breitbart attended Weiner's news conference and spoke to
reporters before Weiner appeared. He claimed to have another photo of
Weiner which he described as "X-rated" but would not say if he planned to
release it.
"I would like an apology from him. I'm here for some vindication," Breitbart
said. Weiner did apologize to Breitbart.
Weiner said he used his home computer and personal Blackberry, not
government computers, in his exchanges with the women. But that may not
protect him from House rules that say a member "shall conduct himself at all
times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House."
On numerous occasions, the House ethics committee has cited that general
rule in finding that lawmaker violated standards of conduct.
In her brief statement, Pelosi said she was "deeply disappointed and
saddened about this situation." She mentioned Weiner's wife, his family,
staff and constituents, but pointedly did not mention the congressman.
New York's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, said in a statement that he was "
deeply pained and saddened by today's news. By fully explaining himself,
apologizing to all he hurt and taking full responsibility for his wrongful
actions, Anthony did the right thing. He remains a talented and committed
public servant, and I pray he and his family can get through these difficult
times."
Weiner succeeded Schumer in the House district that includes parts of
Brooklyn and Queens.
The picture showing Weiner shirtless was reminiscent of a photo of former
Rep. Chris Lee, a New York Republican who abruptly resigned from office
earlier this year after a shirtless photo he sent a woman on Craigslist
became public. A Democrat, Kathy Hochul, was sworn in to replace Lee last
week after winning a special election May 24.
Weiner gained a national profile during the debate over President Barack
Obama's health care plan when he outspokenly professed support for a
government-run "single-payer" program for everyone and later a "public
option" to compete with private health insurance. He got the notice of
liberals even though both proposals failed to make it into law. |
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