Topless photo, e-mails force New York Congressman to resign

2011-02-10 09:55:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- New York congressman Chris Lee announced his immediate resignation on Wednesday after his e-mails sent to a woman on Craigslist turned up on the Gawker website.

Lee, 46, allegedly had sent e-mails on January 14 to a 34-year-old Maryland government employee whom he had met on Craigslist by responding to an ad in the "Women for Men" section of Craigslist personals. "Will someone prove to me not all [Craigslist] men look like toads?" she asked, inviting "financially & emotionally secure men" to reply.

Lee responded. "Hi, Hope I'm not a toad. :-) I'm a very fit fun classy guy. Live in Cap Hill area. 6ft 190lbs blond/blue. 39.. Lobbyist. I promise not to disappoint," the Congressman wrote in his first e-mail to the unidentified woman, as reported by Gawker. A photo of Lee was attached to the e-mail.

The woman soon replied, asking "Are you sure that's not a photo from a Jcpenney ad?". Lee then replied with another photo, showing him topless. "Lol...no..Here.. I just took one.. i'm relaxing at home," he wrote in his second e-mail.

The exchange of e-mails then continued and Lee asked the woman about her last date and how it went. "A few weeks ago with a coworker's cousin..and it didn't go. I wanted to leave after 10 min...yours?" the woman replied.

After this e-mail, Lee - who is married with one child - replied: "Lol. last Monday.. She was not as advertised. Lol.. how do people think you aren't going to figure it out once you see them in person." Lee later claimed that he was divorced.

Gawker reported that the 34-year-old woman cut off contact with Lee after she had searched for him online and concluded that he had lied about his age and occupation. She then forwarded the e-mails to Gawker.

Although Lee's spokesman initially tried to downplay the events by saying the Congressman's e-mail address was hacked, Lee later released a statement and indirectly confirmed the story.

"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," Lee said. "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 added that "the challenges we face in Western New York and across the country" are too serious for him to allow "this distraction" to continue. "And so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately."

Lee had been the U.S. Representative from New York's 26th congressional district since January 3, 2009. He was re-elected in 2010.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-02-10

Distractions...that would be him chasing women on Craigslist to bed.