AOL News has a new home! The Huffington Post.
Click here to visit the new home of Politics Daily!Hot on HuffPost:
Elected Legislators Continue To Occasionally Assist Bank Lobbyists In…
Hospital Prices Explained: How Charges For Medical Care Got So Crazy
Yesha Callahan, Who Outed Craigslist Romeo Chris Lee, Is No Longer Anonymous
Her name is Yesha Callahan, the formerly anonymous single mother whose "women seeking men" Craigslist ad last month inspired married Rep. Chris Lee (R-N.Y.) to tell her he was a divorced lobbyist, send her a topless muscle photo of himself and, on Wednesday, to quit Congress just hours after Gawker.com went public with the story.
Meanwhile House Speaker John Boehner said Lee's lightning-speed resignation was the result of a personal jump, not a leadership shove.
The two-term GOP rising star "made his own decision that he thought was in his best interests and the interests of his family," Boehner said at his regular weekly news conference on Thursday. But he wouldn't discuss whether he spoke with Lee once the story broke. He also wouldn't say whether he warned Lee and a few other very social, younger Republicans last year about their after-hours partying with female lobbyists, as reported by Roll Call (which maintains a paywall for stories).
"My conversations with members are private and they will remain that way," he said. "I believe that members of Congress should be held to the highest ethical standard. That's what the American people expect."
An ethical standard is apparently what Callahan, 34, expected too, when Lee answered her ad last month. What the University of Maryland faculty specialist and mother of preteen son did not expect was the media firestorm once she went namelessly public, she told the Washington Post.
Callahan said she outed Lee -- who asked for a revealing photo of her in return for his shirtless pic -- on the advice of friends after learning via Facebook he was married. "I assumed that other people have probably come across him as well, and he had lied to them. I felt annoyance at just the audacity of people thinking that they're not going to get found out when they are lying."
After sharing her story with Gawker, she continued to bash Lee anonymously on TheLoop.21.com. She doesn't explain why she decided to allow herself to be named in the Post but confesses she frets about its effect on her career, family and personal life.
Callahan, described by TheLoop as a "leggy glamazon," said she got about 30 responses to her personals ad. She requested photos from respondents to weed out the "trolls." But the Lee experience "soured me a bit" on Craigslist dating. In fact, once the Congressman asked her to reveal more of herself in the next photo, "I was kind of like, okay, no, he's just looking for things I'm not interested in."
For his part, Boehner wouldn't take the bait when asked whether the Capitol Hill lifestyle (translation: spouses living back in the home district, members fawned over by staff and lobbyists in D.C.) caused members to stray.
"I wouldn't know," he said.
Our New Approach to Comments
Add a Comment
what is a faculty specialist?
March 14 2011 at 9:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou go girl. You definatly weeded out a Troll!!!!
February 13 2011 at 12:33 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down ReplyWhat is with you people?! This woman is NOT married! All she did was go on line in hopes of meeting a SINGLE, intelligent, attractive man! What does she have to feel guilty about!? some of you people are being ridiculous. She did the right thing by ratting him out too! He LIED!! I would have told about him too once I found out who he really is! This girl should be thanked, not criticized. I feel sorry for his family, but his wife needs to know what a creep she is still married to.
February 13 2011 at 12:26 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply"Meanwhile House Speaker John Boehner said Lee's lightning-speed resignation was the result of a personal jump, not a leadership shove." If it wasn't a leadership shove, then it should have been. Perhaps Boehner expressed disapproval in other ways--this is just a short item after all. Chris Lee deserves some credit for not prolonging this sordid tale. Let's wish him the best for the rest of his life.
February 11 2011 at 5:47 PM Report abuse Permalink -12 rate up rate down ReplyWhile this man is stupid, and so easily duped its pitiful, this women is no one to admire either. This is an example of a lion waiting to pounce..for profit. Whether he deserves this or not, she is just as guilty. What has happen to Mankind, there is slander, killing, hate, lying, all manner of sick things against each other. Folks you can not gain off the back of another person, oh, you may get something, I can assure you that you will not be happy. This is all against GODS Commandments, ITS WRONG. Care for each other.
February 11 2011 at 5:01 PM Report abuse Permalink -5 rate up rate down ReplyReally! Who is the stupid one here? She is single-he is not. Even right wingers do these things. Am I right to believe if this had been a Democratic Rep. you would only blame him and say the woman was duped?
February 13 2011 at 12:39 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down ReplyShe's worried about the effect it will have on her and her family!!!! Give me a break - she gets her 15 minutes of fame that she craves or she would not have done it. To say she is doing it because she found out he was married ... baloney. If it had been someone who would not have given her publicity, she would never have given it a second thought!
February 11 2011 at 4:48 PM Report abuse Permalink +4 rate up rate down ReplyThese Left Wing bloggers who want to beat up on Republicans while ignoring the Liberals who do this sort of thing really believe they are above it all. After all when a Dem does this sort of thing in the mind of the Liberal it is normal and acceptable... No wonder they react they why they do.
February 11 2011 at 4:47 PM Report abuse Permalink -4 rate up rate down ReplyExcuse me. That goes both ways!!!!
February 13 2011 at 12:40 PM Report abuse Permalink +3 rate up rate down ReplyTo respect people's private life is a great honor; but only for those who are respectful.
February 11 2011 at 4:39 PM Report abuse Permalink +8 rate up rate down ReplyGee--she played the game just as much as he did now she's worried about the effect it will have on her job and family. That makes two families just about as miserable as you both. Shame on each of you and quit tring to be the innocent victim of this mess.
February 11 2011 at 4:36 PM Report abuse Permalink -6 rate up rate down ReplyThe Congressman made a decision he'll likely regret the rest of his life. He is an individual and his actions should be viewed as those of an individual who made a bad choice. To make political hay of it is goofy, Michael Hurley, and if the direction of this nation were left up to the likes of you, we'd all be sorry.
February 11 2011 at 4:33 PM Report abuse Permalink -3 rate up rate down Reply
Follow Politics Daily
Obama Jokes for His Supper at His First Gridiron Dinner Appearance as President
The Gridiron Club's 2011 Political/Media Roast and Toast Lyrics
Too Short, Too Fat -- Even Too Attractive -- to Be President?
Ex-Rep. Chris Lee, Wife in Retreat While Craigslist Ad-Placer Yesha Callahan Speaks Out
Yesha Callahan, Who Outed Craigslist Romeo Chris Lee, Is No Longer Anonymous
POPULAR
- 21 Songs of 21st Century Politics
- Huck Finn, Censorship and the N-Word Controversy
- Soraya M., Stoned to Death for Being an "Inconvenient Wife''
- Grey Poupon-Gate: President Obama's Burger Too Fancified For Hannity
- Michelle Obama's Lavish Spain Vacation Sparking Criticism
- Jimmy Carter Leaves Church Over Treatment of Women
- The Five Most Racist Obama Cartoons?
News From Our Partners
- Illinois’ fracking and coal rush is a national crisis
- Developers evict historic women’s shelter to build luxury hotel
- Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship
- DHS admits “impossible” to control 3D-printed guns
- Journalists file suit against Manning trial secrecy
- More Stories »
- In Some States, Poorest Out of Luck on Health Care Reform
- How Smoking Ban Increases Bowling Shoes Lawsuits
- Holder Backed Fox News Probe
- IRS's Lerner Placed on Leave
- Obama Sees an End to 'Perpetual' War on Terror
- More Stories »
- Christians in the Arab world: A guide
- 10 things you need to know today: May 25, 2013
- The week's best editorial cartoons
- Is Wall Street literally writing America's laws now?
- Could fracking ruin Germany's beer?
- More Stories »
Top News
More News
More on Aol
Local News
More Blog/Sites
Sites and Services
HuffPost Politics
34 Comments