Congressman quits after shirtless photo scandal

Congressman quits after shirtless photo scandal

US Representative Chris Lee of New York, a married Republican, abruptly resigned from Congress on Wednesday after revelations that he had sent a shirtless photo and flirtatious messages to a woman on an Internet site.Lee sent a shirtless picture of himself to a woman he met on Craigslist, who eventually contacted celebrity gossip site Gawker.com.His abrupt departure came after the website published a report claiming Lee, who is married, solicited a romantic encounter and sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman."I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologise to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness," Lee said in a statement."The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately," he said.On Wednesday,Gawker posted a story that included the e-mails allegedly exchanged between Lee and the unnamed 34-year old woman.According to the story, the single woman from Maryland posted an ad on Craigslist's "Women for Men" section on Jan 14. Soon afterwards a man named Christopher Lee replied, identifying himself as a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist.In the exchange that followed, Lee reportedly sent the woman an e-mail including a photo of Lee with his shirt off, flexing his arms and chest.The woman later broke off her correspondence with Lee after she did an online search for him and determined that he had lied about his age and his job, the Gawker story reported.
Source: AgenciesPublished Feb 10 2011