By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner announced Thursday that he will step down from his Congressional seat.
The move comes nearly three weeks after Weiner used Twitter an image of his crotch to a woman in Seattle. Since then the sexting scandal has only grown, with the congressman admitting he sent sexually explicit images and had lewd online conversations with six women.
"I had hoped to be able to continue the work that my citizens elected me to do," Weiner said during a press conference in a Brooklyn senior center. "Unfortunately the distraction that I created has made that impossible, so today I am announcing my resignation from Congress."
Weiner delivered his speech with little trace of emotion, a contrast to his tearful press conference in Midtown where he admitted to sexting. At times, his voice was drowned out by hecklers, including one who shouted, "bye-bye pervert!"
Weiner stood alone at the podium — his wife, Huma Abedin, nowhere in sight.
Weiner repeatedly apologized to Abedin, a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and said he planned to spend his time after his resignation focusing on how "my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused."
Abedin, who is reportedly pregnant, returned home Tuesday after a trip overseas with Clinton.
Calls for the congressman’s resignation began last week immediately after he admitted to sending lewd pictures of himself to at least half a dozen women via Twitter and Facebook.
At an emotional press conference where he struggled to choke back tears in front of dozens of reporters, Weiner admitted he'd lied after mistakenly posting one now-infamous crotch shot for more than a week. He'd claimed repeatedly his account had been hacked.
At the time, Weiner insisted he would not resign and hoped his constituents would forgive his "dumb" mistake.
"I'm going to work very hard to win back their trust," he said.
This time, he showed no sign of emotion, and did not take questions from the audience.
Weiner's resignation came after more scandalous pictures have emerged, showing the congressman in numerous compromising positions, including holding his towel-clad crotch in what appears to be the House gym, earning the scorn of everyone from President Barack Obama to Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
Staff have reportedly already cleaned out of Weiner's Washington, D.C. offices and locked the door.
Pelosi declined to comment on Weiner during her regularly scheduled press conference Thursday morning, but Democrats had been planning to hold a meeting later in the day to discuss whether they should strip Weiner of his committee assignments, which would have been a crushing blow, the Times said.
Weiner is currently on a leave of absence from Congress and seeking treatment.
Weiner had widely been considered a top contender for the 2013 mayoral election, but the scandal appeared to have crushed any chances he may have had.
Now, even actor Alec Baldwin is considering throwing his hat into the race.
