It seems disgraced former Representative Anthony Weiner is not the only Democrat sending lewd photos of himself over the Internet.
The New York Daily News reports that New Jersey Democrat Louis Magazzu announced his resignation on Tuesday after nude photos he sent to a woman he had been corresponding with ended up on a Republican activist's website.
According to the Daily News:
At least two of the photos showed the Cumberland County freeholder's crotch, two showed him dressed to the nines in a suit, and a fifth showed him waist up without a shirt.
The tawdry photos - taken in front of a mirror with a smartphone - are similar to those that led to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens-Brooklyn) to call it quits in June.
The 53-year-old Magazzu apologized to his family, friends and constituents, but claimed he is the victim of a set-up by a woman he has never met personally and has obtained legal counsel:
As a consequence, a woman who I have never met personally, but have corresponded with on the internet for several years, has recently shared some photographs which she requested and that were intended only for her eyes. I did not know that she was working with an avowed political enemy to distribute these pictures. I have retained counsel to determine what laws may have been broken by the unauthorized distribution of those pictures. No government services or equipment were used by me when taking the pictures or transmitting them to the woman in question.
The father of five children, Magazzu has been separated from his wife for two years, according to the New York Daily News.
Magazzu claims he did not use any government property to take or send the pictures, and the Daily Journal reports Magazzu has "ended the contacts."
Unlike Weiner, who spent weeks dodging the issue, Magazzu resigned just a day after the scandal made news.
Carl B. Johnson, one of Magazzu's political opponents, posted the embarrassing photos on his website, and Magazzu is demanding they be removed.
The Daily Journal reports:
Rocco C. Cipparone Jr., a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor hired by Magazzu, states "posting and disseminating" of the photos and messages should stop immediately. He warned Johnson he may face criminal charges and civil liability.
Magazzu, also an attorney, acknowledges taking the nude pictures of himself with a cellphone. He told The Daily Journal he forwarded the photos, along with others in which he is fully clothed, to an unidentified woman. The explicit shots were sent at her request after he sent other pictures in which he is fully dressed, Magazzu said.
But the photos have yet to be removed.
"The website isn't about posting shots of Lou naked or anything," Johnson said, according to the Daily Journal.
"It is about exposing the underbelly of local politics. He was the figurehead, the person who ran the party and the freeholder board for a decade. Even though he has stepped down, I don't believe he has stopped wielding influence."
According to the Daily News, Johnson said he would consider removing the photos.
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