Weiner scandal: Unfolding the actual incident

US representative for New York's Congressional district, Anthony Weiner's confession to have sent sexually explicit photographs of himself to several women followers on Twitter, both before and since his marriage, got him into real controversy with House Republican Leader Eric Cantor asking him to step down.

Weiner, 46, admitted to wrong doing, but refused to resign.

What actually was the incident?

Gennette Cordova, a 21-year-old college student in north western Washington state said she was first impressed with Weiner after she saw him take on Representative Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party-backed Republican from Minnesota, on Fox News's Hannity.'' Cordova and her boyfriend thought the congressman was smart and funny, and they both started following him on Twitter.

I tweeted words of support for him as a politician, and I retweeted his tweets often'' Cordova said, in her conversations over phone and e-mail in the last two days, a boston.com report stated.

It was around 9 pm on a Friday when Cordova, who was preparing for a night outing with a friend, logged onto Twitter and discovered that Representative Anthony D. Weiner had sent her a suggestive photo of himself in gray boxer briefs.

She said, she did not believe at first that the photo was even real.

It didn't make any sense,'' Cordova said in her first extensive interview since Weiner confessed in a news conference Monday to sending her the photo. I figured it must have been a fake.''

Cordova's conversations can be fit to a pattern. In rapid and reckless fashion, he sought to transform informal online conversations about politics and policy into sexually charged exchanges, often laced with racy language and explicit images, the report stated.

Cordova, had exchanged text messages with Weiner, a New York Democrat, about their shared concern over his conservative critics. According to Cordova, she had never sent Weiner anything provocative. Asked if she was taken aback by Weiner's decision to send the photo, she said, Oh gosh, yes.''

Cordova spoke to The New York Times as Weiner faced intensifying pressure to step down, because of his acknowledged online sexual communications with at least six women over a period of three years.

At least six House Democrats have demanded Weiner to step down, including Niki Tsongas. Tsongas, the only woman in Massachusetts' 10-member congressional delegation who has championed efforts to combat sexual assault in the military.

The women who are known to have encountered Weiner on social media and later having personal communications with him are all of varied ages, races, and locations. Weiner's online conduct in many ways have revealed a completely different personality of his, which is aggressive, blunt, feisty, and willing to push boundaries with an apparent disregard for the possible consequences.

The women came to his attention after he had come to theirs. Usually they were admirers of his scrappy progressive politics and youthful energy, and either posted an enthusiastic comment on his Facebook page or sent him an admiring Twitter message, the report said.

Weiner, at his news conference Monday, said he had sent Cordova the underwear photo as part of a joke.'' But Cordova said that the image was unlike their previous interactions.

I still didn't get the joke part of it, she said.

Weiner had until recently been considered a strong candidate for the New York City mayoral race in 2013, but in light of the scandal that has unfolded on the cover of every NYC newspaper throughout the last week, Weiner might end up resigning.

Anthony Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, is in the early stages of pregnancy, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the situation as sources.

Abedin, Weiner's wife of just 11 months, has been noticeably absent from her husband's public apology and subsequent damage control. Abedin is a long-time aide to Hillary Clinton, and in fact, Bill Clinton presided over Abedin's marriage to Weiner.