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

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.“