Andrew Breitbart, whose previous “journalistic” exploits include a doctored Shirley Sherrod video and collaborations with fake pimp/sex-boater James O’Keefe says he has new juice on Congressman Anthony Weiner. Spoiler: Weiner keeps his clothes on. Update: Nevermind. Shirtless pics released.
Breitbart says that a woman has “come forward with what she claims are photographs, chats, and emails” with Weiner from May 2011. Make what you will of this tortured language:
The woman has indicated that Rep. Weiner allegedly sent the photograph [above] after she asked him to confirm that he was taking photographs contemporaneously, in conjunction with their apparent online communications.
Another photo shows him at home with cats, cringingly labeled, “Me and the pussys.”
If Breitbart has anything more incriminating, he probably won’t hold onto it for much longer. In the meantime, this merely suggests that Weiner has some explaining to do with his wife, Hillary Clinton staffer Huma Abedin. And to the Internet, which has now learned that social media-savvy Weiner still uses an AOL address.
So far, the reaction has been pretty muted though, likely due to the dynamic earlier identified by Jessica Dweck at Slate:
Conservatives might cry foul over the double standard in reporting on sex scandals for Democrats and Republicans, but it’s justified. There’s the low-hanging fruit of hypocritical “family values” zealots who get caught, quite literally, with their pants down cheating on a spouse. But it’s more than that. In the case of Republicans, who have been waging a fierce legislative war on women, they’re not just screwing around on their wives, they’re screwing over millions of American women and families by eliminating reproductive freedom, undermining equal pay laws, and restricting access to affordable health and child care.
It would be a loss for progressives (including pro-choicers) if things escalated to a point that interfered with Weiner’s political work, either as a congressman or a potential mayor of New York City.
Updated: Things just got a lot worse from Weiner if consensual sexting/phone sex with a woman who is not your wife turns out to be a political dealbreaker. Breitbart has posted chest-waxed shirtless pics of Weiner and says the gray underwear shot is linked to the same Yahoo account; Radar has screengrabs it says were sexy exchanges between Weiner and one of his Facebook.
Update 2: Apparently ABC News has interviewed the woman. Breitbart tells The New York Times, “You’re going to know who this person is by tomorrow. She is going to come out of her anonymity in a very short time. She will be coming forward to communicate the means by which she received these photos. I think it will be clear that she is telling the truth.”
‘Me and the pussys’: Weiner Sends Intimate Home Pic; Apparently Relishes Double Entendres, Too [Big Government]
‘It’s Me’: Rep. Weiner Sends Playful Photo to New Friend [Big Government]
Related: The Case For Tolerating Left Wing Lotharios [Slate]
Earlier: The Congressman’s Cockshot Conundrum