Married NY Rep. Christopher Lee resigns after topless pic sent to Craigslist gal pal: report

Originally Published:Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 4:31 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 9:32 PM

GawkerChristopher Lee allegedly sent a topless photo to a woman he met on Craigslist.

A married upstate congressman abruptly quit Wednesday after he was busted sending a shirtless picture and flirty emails to a woman hunting for dates on craigslist.

Buffalo-area Republican Christopher Lee, 46, said he had made "profound mistakes" and apologized to his family, staff and constituents.

He resigned "effective immediately."

Lee sent the Washington woman a series of emails last month claiming he was a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist and a "classy guy."

The gossip blog Gawker reprinted the emails to the unidentified 34-year-old woman, who had posted last month on craigslist's "Women for Men" section asking for proof that not all men on the site "look like toads."

Lee, who has a young son with his wife, Michele, replied using his private Gmail account on Jan. 14.

"Hope I'm not a toad. :) i'm a very fit fun classy guy," he wrote. "6ft 190lbs blond/blue. 39. Lobbyist. I promise not to disappoint."

They sent a few brief emails back and forth, but the woman told Gawker she quit replying after she looked up Lee online and realized he was lying about his age and occupation.

Lee resigned less than four hours after Gawker posted the emails and photo.

His office first claimed his email account had been hacked - which didn't really explain the topless photo of himself flexing his biceps in a mirror.

About two hours later, Lee told Fox News he couldn't discuss the issue because "I have to work this out with my wife."

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Lee issued a brief statement saying he was resigning the seat he won in 2008. "I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents," he said. "I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. ... I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness."

Gov. Cuomo will have to call a special election to find a new representative for the 26th District, which includes the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester as well as a vast swath of rural western New York.

Lee, who ran his family's machine-tool firm, Enidine Inc., was elected in 2008 on a no-nonsense, business-first campaign platform devoted to "holding Washington accountable for every dollar it spends."

Lee's penny-pinching ways landed him on the wrong side of New York City lawmakers last year when he tried to block a vote on the Zadroga 9/11 health bill.

Rumors had been circulating about Lee in Washington for some time.

He was named in a Roll Call story last year about House GOP leader John Boehner dressing down some members for partying too much and "inappropriately hanging out with female lobbyists."

Lee is the second upstate congressman to go down in a sex scandal in as many years.

Democrat Eric Massa resigned last year amid accusations he groped male staffers.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2011/02/09/2011-02-09_gop_rep_christopher_lee_ny26_goes_topless_in_pic_sent_to_craigslist_gal_pal_repo.html#ixzz1DYdkMGQl