Kevin McCarthy's Exit Came After Personal Threat Over Affair Allegations

[still_one]

In the hours before House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) abruptly withdrew his candidacy to be the next speaker of the House, he was sent an email from a conservative activist threatening to expose an alleged affair with a colleague. The subject line: “Kevin, why not resign like Bob Livingston?”

The email, sent just after 8 a.m. on Thursday, came from Steve Baer, a Chicago-based GOP donor known for mass-emailing conservative figures and Republican lawmakers. It was addressed to McCarthy and numerous others, including the personal account of Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), who conservative media sites have suggested is tied romantically to McCarthy.

McCarthy has brushed off the affair allegation. After announcing that he would not seek the speaker's post on Thursday, he was asked about Wednesday's cryptic letter from Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), which asked that "any candidate for speaker of the House, majority leader, and majority whip withdraw himself from the leadership election if there are any misdeeds he has committed since joining Congress that will embarrass himself, the Republican conference, and the House of Representatives if they become public."

"No. No. Come on," said McCarthy. His decision to withdraw, he said, was to ensure that fellow GOP members didn't have a tough vote. "For us to unite, we probably need a fresh face," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthys-exit-affair-allegations_5616f004e4b0082030a1e0a8

[madaboutharry]

1. From what I read elsewhere today,

this was "an open secret" all over Washington.

[still_one]

2. Normally I wouldn't care about this crap, but it is so much fun to watch the hypocrites implode

[madaboutharry]

4. He was there with his wife and

children, who looked like teenagers. Mark Halpern had said it could be due to "a nonprofessional situation" or something like that. It made me a little sad for his family.

[still_one]

9. Of course it is sad for his family, but as far as he is concerned, he is a hypocritical jerk, who

has led the crowd against Planned Parenthood, and almost every anti-women legislation his party brought up

[Purveyor]

3. This is my understanding also. eom

[left on green only]

5. Just Think: They Can Avoid All Of The Shame By Taking Newt Getricher Up On His Offer.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Not this shit again! Why can't they just resign because...

they are unfit assholes?

[Euphoria]

12. Lol! And totally agree!!

[Lunabell]

7. I thought the GOPiggies didn't care about affairs anymore.

As long as you were a batshit crazy CONservative.

[world wide wally]

8. How about Trump for Speaker?

Only problem is that he would never stop speaking!

[global1]

13. That's One Way To Keep Trump Away From The Presidency....nt

[murielm99]

10. I don't really care about his alleged affair.

I care about his misusing his power, bragging about going after Clinton, spending all that money, and being a poor representative of the people.

[longship]

11. Plus, he talks like he has marbles in his mouth.

And no brain connected.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. It's the hypocrisy. McCarthy endorsed Family Research Council in a public leter condemning

Southern Poverty Law Center. It was published in a full page NY Times ad.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dozens-gop-leaders-declare-solidarity-those-who-want-see-homosexuality-outlawed

Insisted on defending DOMA in the courts after Holder stopped defending it:
"House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) signaled Wednesday that despite recent setbacks, House Republican leaders will keep spending taxpayer dollars to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.

McCarthy, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have been defending the federal ban on same-sex marriage since March 2011, when Attorney General Eric Holder deemed it unconstitutional and stopped defending it. They hired outside counsel to defend the law on behalf of the House of Representatives and, so far, have spent at least $742,000 doing so. But as of Tuesday, they marked their fifth consecutive loss in federal court when a Connecticut judge threw out the law as unconstitutional.

Despite the setbacks, McCarthy said he and other House Republican leaders have a duty to uphold current law."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/kevin-mccarthy-doma_n_1728303.html


For extra Family Values Points, here is Mrs McCarthy in an interview with her wandering spouse, claiming that Christians are persecuted in the US:
“People are sympathetic to different things and different causes, but when you bring up Christian, there is no sympathy whatsoever. They do not think you should be able to have that belief,” she said. “You’re not pushing that on someone else, it’s your own belief, you’re living it, I’ve never seen it the way it is now, I do think it is really scary actually, I think that they don’t want you to have the right to be a Christian.”
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/kevin-mccarthys-wife-says-she-losing-her-right-be-christian

[KingCharlemagne]

16. There are few things in life so satisfying as

watching a hypocrite in high places brought low.

Im lovin' it, as the jingle suggests.

[ZX86]

17. I care about his affair very much.

Republicans have placed themselves on a moral pedestal. Their careers are based on making the private and personal decisions ordinary people make about who they can love, marry, have sex with, what kind on birth control they use, and whether they can make decisions with their doctor concerning their own health. On top of that they also want to dictate where you can live, work, adopt children, etc. if they suspect you have a sexual orientation or marital status they don't approve of.

It's not people like me who have turned people's personal sexual activities into a public policy issues. If they don't like being humiliated in public in front of their families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues for their sexual proclivities perhaps they should stop doing it to everybody else.

Gays, lesbians, single women, married women, bisexuals, transgendered, and teenaged girls have been used as fodder for GOP power for generations. Right wing Republicans publicly humiliate them through their legislation and campaign rhetoric routinely. He deserves everything he is getting.

[B Calm]

14. They impeached Bill Clinton for what? They replaced Gingrich with a child molester.

Livingston resigns in hypocritical shame. . .