Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) during a news conference in...

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) during a news conference in Manhattan. After days of denials, a choked-up Weiner confessed that he tweeted a bulging-underpants photo of himself to a young woman. (June 6, 2011) Credit: Getty Images

Rep. Anthony Weiner battled for political survival Tuesday, as Democratic support eroded and Republicans demanded his resignation after he admitted lying about sending lewd photos to women on the Internet.

The brash seven-term Democrat found few supporters Tuesday. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a request to the House Ethics Committee for an investigation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he could not defend Weiner's actions.

Last week, Weiner lied about the Twitter photo to Rep. Steve Israel, angering the Dix Hills Democrat who is in charge of party efforts to retake the House, according to two Democrats with knowledge of the conversations.

"He's effectively going to be a walking ghost until the next election and I wonder whether or not he can, in the end, run for Congress," said Jamie Chandler, a political science professor at Hunter College.

Weiner, once a rising Democratic star who aspired to run for New York City mayor, spent Tuesday hunkered down in his Kew Gardens, Queens, office with advisers. On Monday, he said he lied repeatedly about posting a lewd photo of himself on Twitter and carried on online relationships with six women. But he said he would not resign and would seek re-election.

The GOP seized on Weiner's prolific fundraising, urging 18 Democratic congressmen nationwide to return campaign cash, including Tim Bishop of Southampton ($10,000) and Carolyn McCarthy of Mineola ($1,000). Tuesday, both Bishop and McCarthy expressed dismay about Weiner's actions and said they will await the ethics probe before deciding on his contributions.

New York GOP chairman Ed Cox said, "I think he's lost all credibility. I don't see how he can continue."

Privately, Democrats fear Weiner could drag the party down in 2012, much as Rep. Mark Foley's intern sex scandal hurt the GOP in 2006. Some speculated he effectively could be forced from office by drastic changes in the redistricting process this summer.

But most said it should be up to Weiner's constituents, with New York Democratic chief Jay Jacobs saying "under the current set of facts, there's no great imperative to rush" Weiner to resign. Jacobs added that Weiner had little time to turn things around. "Every day that this goes on, it's a distraction," he said.

Polls taken after Weiner's news conference Monday showed divided public opinion. A NY1-Marist poll found 51 percent of New York City voters believed Weiner should remain in office, while 46 percent in a Survey USA poll thought he should resign.

The scandal could go on. Andrew Breibart, the conservative activist whose blog first publicized the lewd photos, told The Associated Press he would release an "X-rated photo" of Weiner if the congressman disparaged any of the women with whom he developed online relationships.

The scandal developed other dimensions Tuesday, as celebrity gossip website TMZ.com reported that Weiner urged a porn star with whom he exchanged sexual Twitter messages to lie about their relationship to the media. He offered Ginger Lee the advice of his public relations team and sent her a proposed statement, TMZ.com said.

Radar Online posted 220 Facebook messages, many sexually suggestive, between Weiner and Lisa Weiss of Nevada, with whom he began corresponding in August, a month after marrying Hillary Rodham Clinton staffer Huma Abedin.

Weiner has criticized others

In 2008, Rep. Anthony Weiner addressed sex scandals involving politicians in an interview on the "Boomer & Carton Morning Extravaganza," according to WCBS New York.

When asked whether politicians should respond to questions about their behavior, Weiner (D-Forest Hills) pointed to scandals involving President Bill Clinton and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, according to a transcript. "Between President Clinton and Spitzer, the bar for impropriety is so high I could never reach it," he said. "My skeletons are relatively minor compared to this."

A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We’re celebrating Women’s History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

Celebrating Women's History Month at Newsday A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We're celebrating Women's History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We’re celebrating Women’s History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

Celebrating Women's History Month at Newsday A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We're celebrating Women's History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

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