Embattled Congressman Weiner officially resigns

NEW YORK (NEWSCORE) - Embattled congressman Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday that he was stepping down from office.

"Today I am announcing my resignation from Congress, so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can choose a new representative and most importantly that my wife and I can continue to deal with the damage I have caused," he said at a news conference in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Cheers erupted in the room after he made his announcement. His wife Huma Abedin, a close aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was not in attendance.

The 46-year-old progressive congressman announced last week that he would seek treatment and request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives after he admitted to having sent a lewd photo to a Seattle college student on Twitter, and to having inappropriate online sexual relationships with about six women.

He had previously maintained that his Twitter account had been the subject of a targeted hacking.

According to The New York Times, Weiner made the decision to resign after discussions with his wife, Huma Abedin, a close aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who returned home from an overseas trip early Wednesday morning.

Weiner initially said he had no plans to resign the House seat he has held since 1999 but came under renewed pressure after four top Democratic lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), called on him to resign late last week.

Pelosi was due to address the media at a weekly press conference later Thursday morning. News of Weiner's decision came on the same day House Democrats were scheduled to meet and discuss stripping the trouble congressman of his committee assignments -- in particular, his seat on the House energy and commerce committee.

Various media reports said that Democrats held a testy meeting of their caucus Wednesday, in which several junior lawmakers expressed unease at Weiner's treatment by House leaders.

Speaking at a news conference on Capitol Hill as word of Weiner's intentions trickled out, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he had not received a formal resignation from Weiner.

President Barack Obama had called on Weiner to resign in an NBC interview earlier in the week. "I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign," Obama told "Today" show co-host Ann Curry Tuesday.