Representative Christopher Lee of New York abruptly resigned on Wednesday night after a shirtless photo of himself, which he had e-mailed to a woman, was published on the Internet.
Mr. Lee, a two-term Republican from western New York, notified the House speaker, John A. Boehner, of his decision in a letter on Wednesday afternoon, after the scandal had erupted, according to senior Congressional officials.
Mr. Lee’s office released a statement in which he asked for forgiveness. “I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents,” he wrote. “I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.”
The resignation came hours after Gawker, a gossip Web site, published an e-mail exchange that Mr. Lee, who is married and has a son, had with a 34-year-old Maryland woman he had met through Craigslist.
According to Gawker, Mr. Lee, who is 46, replied to a personal ad that the woman had placed in the “Women for Men” section of Craigslist, seeking a financially and emotionally secure man.
No, no picture of the shirtless Mr. Lee. Sorry.
How could Mr. Lee do something so stupid and believe he could get away with it? At some point, one has to wonder if folks like Mr. Lee want to get caught.
Gawker said the woman, a government employee who asked not to be identified, eventually stopped contacting Mr. Lee after she searched for his name online and discovered that he was lying about his profession and his age. The woman then sent the e-mails to Gawker.
Oops!
UPDATE: Ed of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC showed the picture of the shirtless Lee and said, "Isn't that special?"
No, no picture of the shirtless Mr. Lee.
ReplyDeleteGod is merciful---and so are you, Mimi. }-p
JCF, I couldn't bear to have the picture on my blog.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta watch out for those Maryland women ...
ReplyDeleteMary Clara, now he knows.
ReplyDeleteBut he was looking to cheat with an adult female, so it's biblical.
ReplyDeleteFor some of us, the faults we find in others are most recognizable because they're ours as well?
ReplyDeleteTalk about loosing it. David Vitter's diaper addiction didn't hurt him any last year, did it? You'd think that this guy could have held on for another 18 months and maybe made it through next year's primaries. I'm guessing there could be a whole lot more than that single Craigslist post out there. If there is, chances are it will come out anyway. Wait and see. Like who cares?
ReplyDeleteOne more Republican casualty to hypocrisy and repressed sexuality.
Piskie, you hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteThere may be more revelations to come on Lee, or perhaps he did not want to suffer through the humiliation. Perhaps his wife rebelled against standing up with him as he made his tearful confession. I never understood why the wives agreed to do that. Let the cheater stand in the spotlight on his own.
Now if he'd been a British Labour MP (and, FWIW, former Anglican vicar), he'd be home and dry.
ReplyDeleteThus always to public scolds.
ReplyDeleteLapin, next time spare us the link to the pic, please.
ReplyDeleteCounterlight, the Scripture verse which says, "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged," quite often seems to apply in this life, rather than in the hereafter. In effect, folks like Lee judge themselves. :-)
A guy suffering from the delusion that aging "tighty-whities" are sexy, Mimi. The Anglican vicar in him, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteWV - "ranter ma".
Ugh! Maybe it's my age, but men taking pictures of themselves wearing little cover is a major turn-off Ugh again!
ReplyDelete