Rep. Christopher Lee, R-N.Y., abruptly resigned
from the House of Representatives Wednesday
afternoon after a report emerged that he had sent
flirtatious e-mails, including one with a bare-chested
photo of himself, to a woman he met on Craigslist.
Lee is married and has a young child.
"It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people
of Western New York. I regret the harm that my
actions have caused my family, my staff and my
constituents. 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," Lee
said in a statement Wednesday evening.
"The challenges we face in Western New York and
across the country are too serious for me to allow
this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing
that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective
immediately."
On Wednesday, the gossip website Gawker posted a
story that included the e-mails allegedly exchanged
between Lee and the unnamed woman. According to
the story, a single 34-year-old woman from Maryland
posted an ad on Craigslist's "Women for Men" section
on Jan. 14. Soon afterwards a man named Christopher
Lee replied, identifying himself as a 39-year-old
divorced lobbyist.
In the exchange that followed, Lee reportedly sent the
woman an e-mail including a photo of Lee with his
shirt off, flexing his arms and chest. The woman later
broke off her correspondence with Lee after she did
an online search for him and determined that he had
lied about his age and his job, the Gawker story
reported.
15 comments:
This is so incredibly frustrating. Politicians need to get their stuff together. Acting like this is incredibly childish and inappropriate. I realize that politicians are human and they make mistakes; however, how many politicians are going to cheat or act irresponsibly toward their family before people realize it hurts everybody in the situation. Also these men are giving all politicians a bad name. I just feel like once you put yourself in a position of authority and limelight, your actions will become public and therefor you should act appropriately. I respect his decision to step down. I hope he can get his act together and maybe salvage his political career. Also, I wish there was someway to make this behavior not tolerated. I think that the American society has become too used to scandals. We need to show our politicians that they will lose our support if they don't act in a manner the people like and then hopefully everyone will think before they do something they will regret.
Hahahaha The picture alone made me laugh for a while. I can see how some people could find this to be a huge scandal or whatever but isn't this blown a little out of proportion? Yes these kind of things will cause problems within a family and the fact that he lied to this woman didn't make it any better. I don't think his resignation was really necessary. I mean isn't he a representative of New York? Think of how many guys in New York do things like that, he's perfect to represent them!
Maybe he was just trying to find someone to appreciate his Bowflex Body! He's in pretty good shape it looks like for a 46 year old and a congressman at that. I bet if we had a battle royal between the representatives he'd get pretty far and possibly even win. I'm sure after that picture he's attracted not only some media but some female followers as well. I see a bright twitter account in his future.
man there are sure some creepy people out there. why a man would lie about his age and occupation to some girl online just to flirt with her is beyond me. he understood the risk for his family and for his occupation. this is simply gross. and also he shouldnt have sent a picture...she can figure out who that is plus hes not exactly the best looking guy ever.
Honestly i am glad he resigned because to say that he is a 39 year old divorced lobbyist is lying. I dont know about anyone else but I dont want a liar as part of our congress. Also he cheated on his wife with someone from Craigslist. Even if he wasnt a congressman that is still wrong.
Jake McVicker everybody....
That was hilarious
I stand by the comment made that he is indeed "perfect to represent [the men of NY]"
He messed up, he apologized, he resigned.. Life goes on
Reading the comments along with the post. Brought up a question which hasn't been addressed yet. Why do we hold our representatives to standards that we ourselves dont uphold? The man represented the population as a whole pretty well. A liar, a cheat, and in desperate need of an escape. I appreciate his ability to know when enough is enough though, even if it was because he got caught.
Congressman Lee could not have possibly wanted to stay in the job field he was in with the actions he showed. No one is as stupid to believe they would not get caught when they are as well-known as he is. Also, the fact that he resigned 3 hours after it hit the internet shows he was prepared to quit his job. I think he did it fully aware it would end his career.
Well I think that Congressman Lee didn't really need to resign. Although it is embarrassing and inappropriate for a congressman to act like that, to me it isn't enough for his resignation and is no indication that he is unfit for his job as a Representative. The embarrassment alone should be punishment enough.
I realize that they are just men but seriously whats with politicians now a days? cheating on their wives and lying about it. they have to realize that they are in a position of authority and they need to present themselves a little more approprately. they should have known that when they signed up for politics that their business wasn't going to be kept private. someone is always going to try to brin them down. and i guess this was lee's way.
While I don't think he made a good decision, I believe that it isn't something that his career should be ruined over. He's human, meaning, as clichèd as this sounds, he makes mistakes. There is simply too much hype over one small, insignifigant detail in this man's life.
uhhh wow? ok honestly thats just creepy. If they have a job that means so much to them and that is important to the government, they shouldnt being doing stuff like this to ruin their image. I dont think he would have to resign it could have been easily fixed. right? it would have taken a few press conferences to clear up the mess. oh well what happened has happened.
This whole situation could have been avoided if he would have only acted appropriately, but, instead, he chose the bad route: to cheat his marriage and lie to not only his family but also to the woman he was talking with. This incident shows that he makes poor decisions and is not trustworthy in his home life; if this is true, then how are the people he is representing supposed to feel comfortable with his decisions made as a representative? He is supposed to emulate the people's decisions, but then this stunt is uncovered. It is tough for people to trust him now, so it was a good decision for him to resign.
This whole situation could have been avoided if he would have only acted appropriately, but, instead, he chose the bad route: to cheat his marriage and lie to not only his family but also to the woman he was talking with. This incident shows that he makes poor decisions and is not trustworthy in his home life; if this is true, then how are the people he is representing supposed to feel comfortable with his decisions made as a representative? He is supposed to emulate the people's decisions, but then this stunt is uncovered. It is tough for people to trust him now, so it was a good decision for him to resign.
Come on people are taking this a little to far. I know he cheated and lied. So did Bill Clinton... and he is still one of the best presidents. Everyone has their faults even this guy and now I can bet people are goning to regret he resigned his seat. Its always the good ones found cheating... Back to the topic I know politicians should know better but as history continuosly reminds us. They don't. Still its not what a man does for a living its what he does for his family. Every man is a political animal... he was just a animal.
I think everyone is blowing this out of proportion. I mean there is a fine line between what he did and, the actually scandalous one, sexting. Yeah he is a retard for lying about his age and career, and for what he did to his family but I do think that he should have resigned. I don't think that it was that bad. And really? Why someone from Craigslist?
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