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Weiner, Ignoring Party Leadership Calls To Resign, Checks Into Treatment Center

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Anthony Weiner (D-NY) will check into a mental health treatment facility, presumably for sexual addiction, and will seek a leave of absence from the House of Representatives.

READ: Weiner: “I Have Made Terrible Mistakes” But I Am Not Resigning

“Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person,” said Rep. Weiner’s spokeswoman, Risa Heller. “In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.

“Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents.”

No other details are available at this time, according to The New York Times.

Weiner’s announcement came 90 minutes after statements issued by Congressional Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the chair of the Democratic Party, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) who called on Weiner to resign his seat, after two-weeks of relentless reporting on Weiner’s sexually-charged tweets to women, including the distribution of photos of his crotch and genitals that were sent to women who followed him on Twitter.

In a week of high political drama, another news report emerged yesterday asserting that Weiner had sent private direct messages to a 17-year-old girl in Delaware, who had followed him on Twitter in April. Delaware officials investigated and the New York Post reports, “Weiner sent nothing obscene — and sent only two brief messages to her daughter about seeing him during an April school trip to the Capitol.”

It appears that the latest revelation involving a 17-year-old, regardless of the absence of any illicit contents, after two weeks of unseemly details about Weiner and his on-line sexual piccadeillos, has shocked many who have seen it all, and was just too much for Pelosi and Wasserman Schultz, two of the most powerful people in the Democratic Party, save President Barack Obama.

On Wednesday, Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), the Democratic Congressional Committee recruiter of candidates for the 2012 cycle,  was the first Democratic Party offiicial to call on Weiner to resign, stating that “having the respect of your constituents is fundamental for a Member of Congress,” adding that in “light of Anthony Weiner’s offensive behavior online, he should resign.”

Others joined her, including former DNC chair Tim Kaine, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Virginia and others in the House Democratic Caucus.

Pelosi and Wasserman Schultz’s calls to resign are the end of the road for Weiner who has insisted all week that he will remain in office since his dramatic press conference on Tuesday, when he admitted he had lied to his wife Human Abedin, the public, to the senior leadership of the House of Representatives, President Bill Clinton who had married Weiner and his wife, just 11 months ago.

Weiner admitted that he had maintained on-line relationships with at least six women during the past few years; his wife was aware of these relationships prior to his marriage and that he had sent tweets and photos to some of these women since being married.

Tearfully, Weiner repeatedly apologized to his wife and insisted they were staying together and would work through their problems. Media this week also reported that Abedin is three months pregnant, although not confirmed by neither Weiner or his wife.

Abedin is the first political wife to not appear at her husband’s side, nor has she released a statement of support this past week.  Indeed, as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she left for a trip to the Middle East and Africa with Clinton on Monday and has not had any contact with media.

Weiner misled the public for nearly a week beginning May 26th, lying in media interviews that his Twitter account had been hacked when a photo of a man’s crotch covered by grey BVDs was sent from his account to a 21-year-old coed in Washington State, who followed Weiner on Twitter.  In interviews following this incident, Weiner curiously left open the possibility the photo could have been his, which raised more questions and sustained media interest and reporting.

Despite a strong opinion poll reporting 56 percent of respondents in Weiner’s district said he should not resign his office, conducted this week by  New York 1-Marist College, the announcements by Pelosi and Wasserman Schultz. appear to be the strongest message to Weiner that his presence is no longer welcome in the Democratic Party.

Weiner, in this midst of unprecedented political drama, appears to be calculating that he can “wait out” the calls for resignation by seeking mental health treatment.  This request for a short leave of absence by Weiner is not customary. A House member would have to submit the request for a short leave of absence on Weiner’s behalf and would need to be approved by unanimous consent.  It remains to be seen if the Republican-controlled House would be amenable to such an unusual request given Weiner’s circumstances.

A long time protege of Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who issued a compassionate statement on Tuesday, does not appear to stepping forward to save Weiner’s job.  Indeed, the lone voice of support this past week came from the discredited Harlem Congressman Charlie Rangel, who was disciplined by the House of Representatives last year for financial irregularities and was stripped of his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful committees in Congress.

 

Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Institute affiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.

Read Tanya Domi’s most-​recent previous article at The New Civil Rights Movement, “Weinergate: Las Vegas Bettors Playing The Odds.“

 

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News

‘Start the Kevin McCarthy Death-Clock’ After Biden Wins Debt Ceiling Battle: Rick Wilson

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Appearing late Saturday night on MSNBC after it was announced that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had reached an agreement “in principle’ on a budget deal, former GOP strategist Rick Wilson claimed this could be the beginning of the end for McCathy’s speakership.

Sitting in on a panel with guest host Michael Steele, Wilson suggested that McCarthy’s decision to compromise with the president to avoid a default that would spin the economy into chaos will not go over well with far-right members of his House caucus who could make a motion to “vacate the chair” to express their displeasure.

Asked by host Steel about what comes next, Wilson stated it was a win for the White House which will not make conservatives happy.

RELATED: ‘Crazy cuckoo MAGA people’ could sink debt ceiling deal: Dem strategist

“Great night for Joe Biden, great night for the White House even though I think their messaging has been kind of tentative the past few weeks” the Lincoln Project founder began. “I think though we are now going to start the Kevin McCarthy death-clock. He has certainly got a very angry part of his caucus tonight who probably burning up his phone no matter how good it is for the country not to default.”

“It’s not going to please the chaos caucus in the GOP,” he added.

Watch below or at the link:

 

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News

Debt Ceiling: McCarthy Faces ‘Lingering Anger’ and a Possible Revolt as Far-Right House Members Start Issuing Threats

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As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) continues to negotiate a deal to avoid a debt crisis, members of the far-right Freedom Caucus are growing furious with him over broken promises he made to them.

According to MSNBC political analyst Steve Benen, with a slim GOP majority in the House, McCarthy is walking a tightrope to get a budget deal passed and may need help from House Democrats if members of his caucus refuse to go along with him.

As Benen points out, in order to win the speakership McCarthy agreed to an easier path for a motion to “vacate the chair” which could end his tenure as Speaker. That could come into play if the Freedom Caucus stages a revolt.

“… as the negotiations approach an apparent finish line, the House Republicans’ most radical faction is learning that it isn’t likely to get everything its members demanded — and for the Freedom Caucus, that’s not going to work,” he wrote in his MSNBC column.

ALSO IN THE NEWS: Trump in danger of heightened espionage charges after bombshell report: legal expert

Citing a Washington Times report that stated, “[Freedom Caucus members] want everything from the debt limit bill passed by the House last month plus several new concessions from the White House,” Benen suggested far-right House Republicans are now issuing veiled threats.

In an interview, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) stated, “I am going to have to go have some blunt conversations with my colleagues and the leadership team. I don’t like the direction they are headed.”

With Politico reporting, “The [House Freedom Caucus] was already unlikely to support a final bipartisan deal, but lingering anger with Kevin McCarthy could have lasting implications on his speakership,” Benen added, “If this is simply a matter of lingering ill-will from members who come to believe that GOP leaders ‘caved,’ the practical consequences might be limited. But let’s also not forget that McCarthy, while begging his own members for their support during his protracted fight for the speaker’s gavel, agreed to tweak the motion-to-vacate-the-chair rules, which at least in theory, would make it easier for angry House Republicans to try to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.”

Adding the caveat that he is not predicting an imminent McCarthy ouster he added, “But if the scope of the Freedom Caucus’ discontent reaches a fever pitch, a hypothetical deal clears thanks to significant Democratic support, don’t be surprised if we all start hearing the phrase ‘vacate the chair” a lot more frequently.”

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BREAKING NEWS

Prosecutors Tell Trump They Have a Recording of Him and a Witness: Report

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Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial have notified the ex-president’s attorneys they have a recording of him and a witness. The notification comes in the form of an automatic discovery form, CBS News reports, which “describes the nature of the charges against a defendant and a broad overview of the evidence that prosecutors will present at Trump’s preliminary hearing or at trial.”

CBS reports prosecutors have handed the recording over to Trump’s legal team.

It’s not known who the witness is, nor are any details known publicly about what the conversation entails, or even if it is just audio or if it includes video.

READ MORE: ‘Likely to Be Indicted Soon’: Trump Might Face Seven Different Felonies, Government Watchdog Says

According to the article’s author, CBS News’ Graham Kates, via Twitter, prosecutors say they also have recordings between two witnesses, a recording between a witness and a third party, and various recordings saved on a witness’s cell phones.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case related to his allegedly unlawful attempt to hide hush money payoffs to a well-known porn star by falsifying business records to protect his 2016 presidential campaign.

See the discovery form above or at this link.

Image via Shutterstock

 

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