Democrats turn up pressure on Weiner, push for ethics probe

(CNN) -- Democratic leaders took the initiative Monday to go after one of their own, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, hours after he admitted to lying about posting an explicit photo on his Twitter account and carrying on inappropriate relationships with women he'd met online.

Two Democratic sources said that Weiner, in a brief telephone conversation Monday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, made it abundantly clear that he was not going to resign. At his press conference later that day, the New York Democrat said that Pelosi was "not happy" but "also told me that she loved me and wanted us to ... pull through this."

Pelosi, D-California, who until last January was House speaker, reacted by calling for the chamber's Ethics Commission to open an investigation into the seven-term congressman "to determine whether any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred."

Other Democrats, many of whom initially rallied behind Weiner and his initial claim that his Twitter account had been hacked, backed Pelosi's call for an investigation.

Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, chastised his fellow New Yorker for what he called "a deep personal failure and inappropriate behavior that embarrassed himself, his family and the House." He threw his support behind the ethics probe "to remove all remaining doubt about this situation."

Katie Grant, the spokeswoman for House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, told CNN that "if there have been any questions regarding ethics that have been raised in the public sphere that the Ethics Committee should look at them."

But while some Democrats are touting the ethics probe as a bold and significant step, one Republican source calls it "hollow."

The GOP source said it is noteworthy that Pelosi called for an investigation but did not demand Weiner step down -- as happened with former Rep. Chris Lee. The married Republican from western New York resigned in February, following a report that he had tried to meet a woman on Craigslist.

Such a probe is rare, especially when called by a member of one's own party, the Democratic sources said.
CNN's Kate Bolduan, Deirdre Walsh and Dana Bash contributed to this report.


BY Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Breitbart - who first published Weiner's crotch picture - walked up to the podium moments before 4 p.m. and made a speech.

Then began taking questions from the assembled reporters.

"I'd like an apology for him for being complicit in a blame-the-messager strategy," Breitbart said. "I'm here for some vindication."

Presumably, Weiner had to wait behind the scenes as Breitbart triumphantly hogged the microphone for 13 minutes.

Breitbart is a former editor at the Drudge Report and has become a darling of the conservative blogosphere.

After earlier publishing a shirtless photo that Weiner supposedly sent an internet stranger, Breitbart said he was holding a raunchier photo in reserve.

"There's at least one more photo," he said. "It's of an X-rated nature. I have no intention of releasing it. I'm doing this to save his family."

But he called it an insurance policy.

"If this guy wants to start fighting with me again, I have this photo," he said.