Weinergate

Overview

Weinergate was a controversy surrounding a tweet posted by former New York Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account that included a picture of a bulging penis under a pair of grey boxer briefs.

Background

On May 27th, 2011, Anthony Weiner's Twitter account posted a link to a photo of a boxer brief clad man with a visible erection. The tweet was directed to a journalism student at a Washington State community college, who has since deleted both her Twitter and Facebook accounts.^[1]

Notable Developments

The Daily Show Commentary

On May 31st, 2011, John Stewart reported on the scandal in an episode of The Daily Show. During the segment, he revealed that Weiner was a friend and that he had doubts about the photo's authenticity (shown below). In a follow-up segment on June 1st, he commented on Weiner's lack of "certitude" concerning the photo.

Image Composition Analysis

On June 1st, 2011, Journalist Anthony De Rosa posted an analysis of the EXIF data from the tweeted photo on his blog,^[2] showing that it did not match the EXIF data from an image posted on his Twitter account prior.

Weiner's Confession

On June 6th, 2011, Weiner admitted to tweeting the photo at a press conference in Manhattan (shown below), saying he intended to send the photo as a direct message to the woman "as a joke.." He went on to reveal that he had engaged in inappropriate conversations with other women he met over social networking sites and had sent several inappropriate photos.

Resignation

On June 16th, 2011, Weiner announced he would be resigning from Congress and five days later, he formally stepped down from the office.^[6] On September 13th, a special election to fill the vacant seat was held in New York, from which Republican businessman Bob Turner emerged as the victor over the Democrat state assemblyman David Weprin.^[7]

2013 Mayoral Election

On April 10th, 2013, the New York Times^[4] published an interview in which Weiner revealed he was considering to run for Mayor of New York City and that he wanted to "ask people to give me a second chance." On May 21st, 2013, Weiner officially announced his candidacy for Mayor in a video uploaded to YouTube (shown below).

Sexting Controversy

On July 22nd, 2013, the Arizona nightlife website The Dirty^[5] published an article reporting that Weiner had allegedly exchanged sexting messages with a young woman through Facebook following his resignation from the congressional office in August 2011. The post contained a screenshot showing an SMS conversation between Weiner and the woman, who wishes remain anonymous (shown below, left), as well as a censored photograph of his exposed genitalia (shown below, right).

According to the woman's claim, Weiner promised her a job at the blog Politico as well as a condominium in Chicago during the summer of 2012, all while sending sexually explicit photos under the pseudonym “Carlos Danger.” On July 23rd, Weiner admitted that he continued to send sexually explicit messages and photos to a woman even after his resignation during a public appearance at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis headquarters in New York (shown below).

2016 Sexting Scandal

On August 28th, 2016, the New York Post^[8] published an article reporting that an unnamed woman had come forward with several inappropriate photographs sent to her by Weiner, including a picture of his crotch taken next to his sleeping toddler son in bed. The article described the woman as a "busty brunette" who supports the National Rifle Association and 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

That day, Weiner disabled his Twitter account. On August 29th, a post about the scandal reached the front page of the /r/news^[10] subreddit. The same day, The New York Times^[9] published a statement from Weiner's wife Huma Abedin, a top aide to 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, announcing she had made the decision to separate from Weiner:

"After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband. Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy."

Sexting with a Minor

On September 21st, 2016, The Daily Mail^[11] published an exclusive interview with an anonymous 15-year-old girl, who claimed Weiner sent her sexually explicit messages over the last eight months. In the messages delivered to The Daily Mail, the girl informed Weiner that she was a sophomore in high school, which did not deter him from sending sexually explicit messages and encouraging her to send him nude photographs.

In a statement to The Daily Mail, Weiner confessed that he often "demonstrated terrible judgement," but claimed he was "the subject of a hoax."

"I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt. While I have provided the Daily Mail with information showing that I have likely been the subject of a hoax, I have no one to blame but me for putting myself in this position. I am sorry."

The following year, Weiner's victim appeared on the news magazine television series Inside Edition. Within two months of being uploaded to YouTube,^[14] the segment had been viewed more than 26,000 times.

Prison Sentence

In May 2017, Weiner pleaded guilty to to a single count of transferring obscene material to a minor. Four months later, on September 25th, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison as well as three years of supervised release.^[12]

"This crime was my rock bottom," Anthony Weiner said in court. "I have no excuse […] I victimized a young person who deserved better."

Six months later, Weiner was expected to surrender himself to prison on the afternoon of November 6th. That day, Twitter^[13] published a Moments page, archiving the online commentary and reaction regarding the controversy.

Search Interest

External References