Anthony Weiner Tells Colleagues He Will Step Down

By JTA June 16, 2011

Rep. Anthony Weiner reportedly is set to resign in the wake of a scandal in which he lied about sexually explicit exchanges on social media outlets.

Friends of Weiner (D-N.Y.) were quoted Thursday as saying that the embattled congressman will resign under pressure from top Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who had urged him to end the distraction of the scandal by leaving office.

Weiner was in treatment at an undisclosed location this week after confessing that he had sent at least six women sexually charged messages and photos through social media. After his confessional news conference last week, revelations about his lewd exchanges, including photos, continued to surface.

The House Ethics Committee was set to launch an investigation into whether Weiner had misused House resources to send the messages and then cover up the scandal.

Weiner, who is married to a top State Department official, Huma Abdein, is one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in the House.

Pre-eminent among lawmakers calling for him to step down were fellow members of the unofficial Jewish Hill caucus, including Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the majority leader; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the Democrats House re-election campaign; and Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and Sender Levin (D-Mich.)

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO