Weiner Faces Calls to Resign and Tries to Make Amends

Weiner Faces Calls to Resign and Tries to Make Amends

Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times

Representative Anthony D. Weiner, a Democrat, in Queens, on Tuesday. He has been apologizing for salacious online behavior. 

Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York, reeling from revelations of salacious online behavior that threaten his political career, moved rapidly on Tuesday to make amends as Republicans called for his resignation and leading members of his own Democratic Party distanced themselves from him.  

Mr. Weiner spent much of the past 24 hours apologizing over and over to stunned Congressional colleagues and Democratic leaders angry at him for misleading them and the public. Even neighboring House Democrats seemed shaken, with many of them worrying that worse disclosures may still surface.
In a tense telephone call with Mr. Weiner, during which he apologized, Representative Nydia M. Velázquez of Brooklyn scolded him, as she recalled: “How can you explain that somebody can be so smart but so stupid?”
Asked if Mr. Weiner should resign, she replied, “The most important thing in this business is credibility.”
Signs of a redrawn political reality quickly emerged for Mr. Weiner, once considered a top contender to become mayor of New York. His campaign donors said they were especially shocked and furious because a week ago the congressman attributed his online travails to a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” a contributor who spoke with him said.
“Everything is going to be fine,” Mr. Weiner said, according to the contributor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the uncertainty surrounding the congressman’s future.
But Mr. Weiner’s problems have only intensified as new and more embarrassing details of his online relationships emerged. After adamantly proclaiming for a week that he had been the victim of a hacker, Mr. Weiner admitted during a tearful news conference on Monday that he had sent suggestive photographs and messages to at least six women and had repeatedly lied to cover up his actions.
One suggestion of his new vulnerability: Some New York Democrats have approached former Councilman Eric N. Gioia of Queens about running for Mr. Weiner’s seat, according to two people briefed on the conversations. Mr. Gioia, these people said, is open to the possibility. He declined to comment.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, was said to be particularly upset with Mr. Weiner, who waited until 15 minutes before his news conference on Monday to inform her, by phone, about his explicit online communications with women. And rather than engage in a discussion about resigning, he instead told her, in no uncertain terms, that he would keep his seat, according to a senior Democratic Congressional official.
Expressions of support from Democrats, many of whom have long grumbled about Mr. Weiner’s chest-thumping, go-it-alone style, were conspicuously scant.
At an appearance in Washington on Tuesday, the top Senate Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, said he could not overlook Mr. Weiner’s conduct.
“I know Congressman Weiner,” Mr. Reid said. “I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can’t.”
For their part, Republicans escalated calls for Mr. Weiner to quit. “I don’t condone his activity, and I think he should resign,” the House majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, said.
One of Mr. Weiner’s most emotional apologies was delivered to former President Bill Clinton, who officiated at his wedding in July and is extremely close with the congressman’s wife, Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The Clintons are deeply unhappy about the situation and with Mr. Weiner, people who had been told of their thinking said. Mr. Clinton declined to comment.
In the hours after his news conference, Mr. Weiner called about a half-dozen of his Democratic colleagues, including Representatives Steve Israel and Edolphus Towns, both of New York, and the House minority whip, Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland.
Those who spoke with Mr. Weiner described him as not sounding like himself: he expressed deep remorse for his actions and, at times, became choked up, but stood by his decision not to resign.
“He was embarrassed,” Mr. Towns recalled. “He is trying to pick up the pieces and move on.” GO TO SOURCE....