Weiner asked me to lie - porn actress
2011-06-15 22:25
New York - A former porn actress who said she exchanged emails and messages over Twitter with a US congressman embroiled in a sex scandal said on Wednesday that he asked her to lie about their online communications.
Ginger Lee said she and US Representative Anthony Weiner exchanged about 100 e-mails between March and June, beginning after Lee posted a supportive statement about the congressman on her blog. She said they mostly discussed politics, but he would often turn the conversation to sex.
"'I have wardrobe demands too. I need to highlight my package,"' Weiner wrote Lee, in an e-mail read aloud at the news conference by Lee's attorney, Gloria Allred.
Weiner acknowledged last week that he had sent lewd photos and texts to women after a photo of his crotch was posted on Twitter. In an interview two weeks ago, he acknowledged that he had exchanged messages with Lee but didn't elaborate.
Lee said she did not send sexually suggestive messages to Weiner.
"Anytime that he would take our communications in a sexual direction, I did not reciprocate," she said.
Weiner sent Lee an e-mail in early June after the photo of his crotch was sent out on his Twitter account, and "he asked me to lie" about their contact, she said.
Lee said she put out a three-sentence statement on the matter at his request. She did not elaborate but said she was coming forward now to tell the truth and to deny reports that she was in an online sexual relationship with him.
Weiner's wife pregnant
Weiner has taken a two-week leave from the House of Representatives, in treatment for an undisclosed disorder at an undisclosed location.
House Democratic colleagues are looking for him to step down this week amid a growing chorus for him to resign. Even President Barack Obama has suggested he should leave.
Adding to the drama, Weiner's pregnant wife, Huma Abedin, returned on Wednesday from a trip to Africa with her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A fellow member of Weiner's New York Democratic delegation, Representative Carolyn McCarthy, said she's heard from Weiner's friends that the congressman was waiting for his wife to come home before making any decisions about his political future.
McCarthy also cited talk among Weiner's friends about the possibility he could resign this week.
House Democrats huddled behind closed doors on Tuesday for their regular party meeting, but they decided against taking action against Weiner in hopes that he'll resign soon.
The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, reiterated her call for Weiner to quit, saying after the meeting that she wanted to make sure nobody missed her earlier resignation call while members were on a week long recess.
- SAPA
