Representative Anthony Weiner was the man in the now infamous Twitter crotch shot, but he is not resigning from Congress. The New York Democrat made the announcement at a hastily-called press conference, only hours after a conservative website began posting a series of potentially embarrassing photos that it said proved that Weiner had carried on an “online, consensual relationship” with a woman who was not his wife.Rico says some stories leave him speechless, and this is one of them; suffice it to say that the guy is an idiot...
Weiner said that he had not yet seen those photos, but he nonetheless admitted to a half-dozen online relationships over the past three years. The congressman, however, maintained that none of those interactions included a physical relationship, but he did concede that more than one occurred after he married his wife. “I’m here to accept responsibility for some very dumb decisions,” Weiner said.
Still, the New York lawmaker stressed that he would not be resigning from Congress, as some had speculated he might. “I don’t think I did anything that violates any law or any rule,” he said, adding that the photos were not taken or sent from government computers.
Weiner’s admissions were nearly upstaged by Andrew Breitbart, the conservative activist who posted the new Weiner photos earlier in the day (see indented article below). Shortly before the congressman was scheduled to take the stage, Breitbart mounted the podium to answer questions from reporters about the latest round of photos. But the back-and-forth with reporters quickly grew combative, with Breitbart demanding an apology from the media for attacking the credibility of his websites’ reporting on the Weiner Twitter scandal, as well as past controversial stories about ACORN and NPR. “Everything we’ve reported about this story has been true,” he said.
Breitbart also maintained that he still has at least one more photo of Weiner that he has yet to post to his site. He said that he has not yet released it because of its graphic nature. “I’m doing this to save his family,” Breitbart said.
Breitbart began posting the photos, including one of a shirtless man, promising they would undercut Weiner’s claim that the Twitter crotch shot heard around the Beltway and beyond was nothing more than an Internet prank.
The posting of the photos– which Breitbart teased in an early morning post, before slowly rolling them out– drummed up plenty of online interest in the latest episode of “WeinerGate”. But the story appeared to reach critical mass later in the day, once news broke that ABC News had interviewed a woman who appeared to be the same one that Breitbart had, and was preparing to broadcast her identity and her story.
Shortly after Weiner’s press conference wrapped up, ABC News published a story about one of the women who carried on an online relationship with Weiner earlier this year:
Conservative activist Andrew Breitbart began posting online photos—including one of a shirtless man—that he says undercuts Weiner’s claim that the Twitter crotch shot heard around the Beltway and beyond was nothing more than an Internet prank.Here's the shirtless photo that appeared to be the tipping point:
The first two photos that Breitbart posted to his Big Government and Big Journalism websites were clearly of Weiner, but neither appeared to be overtly graphic or incriminating in nature.
The third, however, wasn’t so tame: it’s a photo of a shirtless man that Breitbart claims Weiner sent to an unidentified woman with whom he was having an “an online, consensual relationship involving the mutual exchange of intimate photographs.”
According to Breitbart, the photo "was allegedly sent to the young woman on 20 May 2011 via a Yahoo! email address that she claims was an alternate alias for Representative Weiner."
The photo in question doesn’t show all of the shirtless man’s face, but the lower half does appear to resemble Weiner’s. Breitbart says his claim is further supported by an array of framed photographs in the background that includes a photo of (a clothed) Weiner posing with Bill Clinton.
Breitbart also claims that a "Google search for the email address Representative Weiner allegedly used on that occasion yields an invisible Yahoo! profile with images that appear to be a repository for some of Representative Weiner’s personal photographs." [Breitbart didn't provide the email address to allow for independent verification.]
Breitbart says the photos he has posted were provided by an unidentified woman who has a “cache of intimate photos and online communications” between her and the New York Democrat.
The photos will raise plenty of more questions for Weiner, who has been struggling to explain how a photo of an underwear-clad crotch was sent from his Twitter account to a 21-year-old college student in Seattle. Weiner’s most damning admission so far has been that he can’t say with “certitude” that he wasn’t the man featured in the graphic photo.
The first photo Breitbart published was of Weiner holding up a piece of paper with the word “me” and an arrow pointing to his face. Breitbart says that the woman alleges that Weiner sent the photograph early last month after she asked him “to confirm that he was taking photographs contemporaneously, in conjunction with their apparent online communications.”
The second photo shows Weiner with two house cats in the background. According to Breitbart, that photo was also sent earlier this month and came in an email with subject line: “Me and the pussys.”
Breitbart’s take on what the alleged cache of intimate photos means: “The detailed new information suggests that the Brooklyn- and Queens-based representative and the young woman in question were involved in an online, consensual relationship involving the mutual exchange of intimate photographs.”
Breitbart also promises to post more photos throughout the day, along with “timelines, and other clarifying details”. However, he notes that he “will not be releasing all of the material because some of it is of an extreme, graphic nature.”
07 June 2011
Oops is now a legislative term
Josh Voorhees has an article on Slate.com about Anthony Weiner, the guy who 'definitely' didn't send naked photos of himself via Twitter (only he did, the twit):
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