Weiner Admits Tweeting with Minor, Says Wasn't 'Indecent'

[ProSense]

Weiner Admits Tweeting with Minor, Says Wasn't 'Indecent'

By John Stanton
Roll Call Staff

Rep. Anthony Weiner sent private electronic messages to a 17-year-old Delaware girl but maintains there was nothing inappropriate in his communications with her.

In a statement to Roll Call Friday evening, the New York Democrat's spokeswoman Risa Heller said, "According to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent."

Heller's statement comes after the New Castle County Police Department questioned the girl Friday afternoon, according to Fox News, which said it had reporters present at the home when police arrived.

Weiner became a "follower" of the girl, who is 17, on Twitter in April, and subsequently sent her direct messages. The content of those messages was unknown Friday.

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[WilliamPitt]

1. (facepalm)

[Gin]

6. since he has trouble with the truth I hope this part is true

"According to Congressman Weiner, his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent."

[WillowTree]

45. I'll see your (facepalm) and raise you an "Oh Geeze".......

[ClarkUSA]

2. So Fox News and Breitbart were both correct in their reporting.

So was The National Enquirer with John Edwards and Drudge with Bill Clinton.

As for Weiner and his fans, it is clear that denial isn't just a river in Egypt.

[spin]

3. I can only hope that he is telling the truth this time or ...

his goose is cooked.

[Cid_B]

42. 8th time is the charm...

... or is it 11th?

I forget...

[PeaceNikki]

4. The fact that he sent any explicit photos to any strangers via Twitter, Facebook or text opened him

scrutiny on this and ANY of his communications will and should be questioned. He's an idiot.

[October]

9. It is unbelievable, isn't it! OMG... /nt

[pnwmom]

21. Any reasonably smart 12 year old should have known better. n/t

[cali]

5. moron.

[Prism]

7. Oh for flux sake

I'm disappointed in him - really love his politics - but this might bump me from "ticked, but want him to hang in there" to "obviously too stupid to breathe and needs to be gone as soon as possible."

What. An. Idiot.

[seabeyond]

8. hm... 17, 45 = ya. getting all warm and fuzzy here. nt

[Pisces]

10. WHy would he send her private messages? I hope he isn't lying this time.

[Raine]

11. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

God what an ASS! :argh:

[AngryOldDem]

12. Why would he become a "follower" of this girl?

I'll admit I'm one of the last people on the face of the planet who understand Twitter. But why would a grown man "follow" a kid?

The hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

[Sky Masterson]

18. Following a person takes a split second of a moment

It's not like you get a resume and a list of references about each person that you follow.
I'm not ready to place him on a sex pred list like some shitsticks seem to willing to.

[pnwmom]

23. He offered to follow any of his followers who requested that he do so.

So the real question is, why would he send this girl ANY private messages?

[HipChick]

27. People send private messages all the time, in response to what someone tweets

and I think this girl was asking him to be her prom date or something

[pnwmom]

28. Did you read that somewhere?

[bluestate10]

73. The poster read it in Weiner's private message. Whee. nt

[originalpckelly]

66. His penis mounted laser sight was aimed at her.

We all know this. You and I, we know he was hot for her.

[sabrina 1]

69. Following someone on twitter and sending them DMs is nothing

unusual at all.

Eg, I am being followed by Cory Booker the Mayor of Newark. When I received the request, I had not said a word on my acct. I accepted, and followed him in return. I mostly use the acct to get news, so don't tweet very much in the two years I've been there. I am also being followed by others, like Jeffrey Feldman eg, who also requested to follow me. Again, I don't know why, but it's standard to receive such requests, even from famous people.

All it means is that you will get their tweets on your page and may retweet them, basically giving THEM a bigger audience. They follow people to broaden their audience. It's a great way to get free advertisement.

I could send DMs and probably would receive a response from them. There is just nothing strange about it at all. A Congressmember answering a DM, thanking someone for their support, is also nothing unusual.

As for this story, this is not news, in fact, the mothers of some of the minors complained, not about Weiner, but about the harassment they were getting from Breitbart's thugs and deleted their daughters' accts because of that. It was already known that Weiner had DM'd them.

If all he did was thank them for their support, knowing they were minors in a DM and/or responded to them when they DM'd him, that would be pretty standard for twitter.

If the police went to their homes, someone obviously called them. Tweets will show the facts.

[JoeyT]

88. No, it has to be something terrible.

We should all clutch our pearls and demand his resignation for speaking to a kid ever in his entire life for any reason.

Of course I hope none of the people pitching a fit have any kids on their friends lists on facebook or follow any kids on twitter while talking about anything inappropriate in private with other adults, otherwise they're just being hypocrites.

[KingFlorez]

39. Lots of people on Twitter follow people back

Many of them follow everyone who follows them back.

[LadyHawkAZ]

13. I'll judge it when I see the content

not before.

He's a politician, it's a political account, it's not that implausible that he may have communicated with people for something besides sex. Put the brakes on the rush to judgement, please people, and wait for the content of the messages. Geez.

[PeaceNikki]

15. And do you think it's ok to use a "political account" FOR sex?

The fact that he did at all makes any and all of his contact there suspicious.

[KittyWampus]

16. someone made that point to me yesterday. It's an abuse of authority.

[PeaceNikki]

19. I've been making that point all week

[HipChick]

24. How so? I can understand if was a staffer...

but specifically for this situation? I am not defending him, I think he's stupid for putting himself in this situation, but just trying to understand

[PeaceNikki]

25. He used his position as a hook to troll for chicks online.

He sought out his supporters via Facebook and Twitter. He didn't create an anonymous account to get his rocks off. He didn't TRY to be careful and discreet. No, in fact, he sent pics with his face, his name, photos of his family in the background with this egotistical "LOOKIT ME, I'M ANTHONY WEINER, HERE'S MY WEINER!!" shit. To anonymous people. Coulda been Breitbart, Chris Hanson, a minor.

[KittyWampus]

29. He was using his office and title. Think groupies. But rock stars are one thing

An elected legislative office is another.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PeaceNikki]

32. Given how this has gone down, I can't blame them.

[LadyHawkAZ]

36. I can.

[PeaceNikki]

62. Perfect. Then we have all bases covered.

[sabrina 1]

90. What absolute nonsense, really searching for something to be

outraged over. Anyone can have an account on twitter, it's free. So yes, it's okay to have cyber sex on your business acct, your political acct, your medical acct, your entertainment account, anywhere you want to so long as you are an adult, which they were.

Twitter is filled with famous people, all available to talk to and most people are not all that impressed with them as it is so common to see them there if you want to.

[pnwmom]

57. I don't know exactly what he said. But what she said may be just as important.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1273249&mesg_id=1273460

[loyalsister]

67. I think you're right about that

Sadly interpretations I foresee are

In the public opinion arena, she automatically will win in a his word vs. hers scenario.

If she talks to or about him sexually, like it or not, he may be considered complicit

If she says it was all about politics, people will assume she was coached

It's a no win and what she says will probably just dig his hole deeper.

[frylock]

58. we all did that last week

[DCBob]

14. Somehow I suspect many will not trust Weiner's judgement on what is or isnt "explicit nor indecent."

This dude has lost all credibility.

[frylock]

60. he's lost cred with most sensible people..

but you've been following this and know that there are people here that are going to defend his actions to the bitter end. not saying that there's anything to this story, but i will say that i don't trust a damn thing he says going forward.

[Little Star]

17. Drip, drip drip....................

He should just resign and go away. Should have done it a week or more ago!

[Sky Masterson]

22. whatthefuckever

Lets all just throw him under the bus without proof..

[pnwmom]

26. And why should we trust his judgment or honesty?

If you were this girl's parent, wouldn't you want to know why the Congressman was sending private messages to your daughter?

[Sky Masterson]

33. Of course

I would want to know what he tweeted as well as what anyone tweeted to my kid.
I'm just not ready to put him on a sex pred list as so many others are willing to do.

[JoeyT]

89. Instead we should trust Fox and Brietbart's judgement and honesty.

Because they'd never lie.

Or better yet, the first time someone says one thing and does/did another, we can automatically assume every word out of their mouth in the future is an outright lie. There goes the credibility of every last politician in existence.

[Little Star]

40. He threw himself, his wife, unborn child and the people of his...

district right into this hell to satisfy his own needs. They did nothing wrong except have faith in him and his character.
This whole nasty mess is on him and he needs to suffer the consequences of his actions for his own good as well as theirs.

[Sky Masterson]

51. Burn Witch, Burn!!!

Suffer!! He must Suffer! His fervent sexuality and stupid actions totally negates all of the great work that he has done in the house.
Only in America...

[Nye Bevan]

77. YES. How do we know he wasn't *hypnotized* into tweeting pictures of his erect penis?

Or perhaps some kind of radio control device could have been implanted into his brain's moral center?

[pnwmom]

20. I want to believe him -- what's bad for him is bad for the party -- but why should I,

after all the other lies?

So I'll wait and see, just like everyone else.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

71. No, You don't want to believe him. This is clear from all your posts

You may be right not to believe him; you may be wrong. But wanting to believe him? You don't--and the false modesty is kind of transparent, just so you're aware.

[bluestate10]

74. Pwmom is being realistic. The Weiner situation stinks and is stinking more

with every passing minute. Weiner has no authority anymore, he is of no value to the people of his district. If only tree hugging progressives would realize that. Sane progressives have seen the light, Sherrod Brown came out against Weiner this afternoon.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

94. The voters in his district get to decide whether he is of value

I don't get to decide, and unless you live in Brooklyn, you really don't have any say in whether or not he is of value in his district.

Thanks,
TreeHugging Liberal

[Drunken Irishman]

31. I suspect he's telling the truth - I doubt it was indecent or inappropriate.

However, it's still creepy. Following a 17 year old girl and direct messaging her on Twitter? Yeah - that's definitely something a creeper would do.

[DCBob]

34. Indeed.. he sounds like a potential pervert...

if not one already.

[itsallhappening]

35. Why didn't he pick a state where the age of consent is lower than 18?

All he had to do was go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America#State_laws

[seabeyond]

43. a 45 yr old man playing with a 17 yr old will never look alright.. regardless of the state. nt

[itsallhappening]

47. In terms of legality, it would.

But I guess if he's in a different state, it would become federal. I'm not sure how federal law would affect this.

[seabeyond]

52. sure. legal. still a sigh... nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

37. buh-bye

dumbass.

[Kaleva]

38. Spokeswoman isn't putting her neck on the line.

" According to Congressman Weiner , his communications with this person were neither explicit nor indecent."

[joshcryer]

41. I bet he was flirty, however.

[seabeyond]

46. exactly. i never had sexual relations with this woman. hubby and i said... bj. he was precise

what he said. and the cops had enough of something to go chat.

did fox chat with her, tehn see something and call cops?

[pnwmom]

56. Is talking about his cape and tights flirty? I guess so.

When he did that with the adult women, it was part of sex talk. But he wants us to believe that it didn't when he talked to the girl.

[zazen]

44. do Twitter profiles explicitly say your age?

I've never used Twitter so I don't know.

Did he know this in advance?

In any case, there can be no reasonable reason to send an 18-year-old female private messages. Maybe if she were unusually brilliant and insightful and she was the only woman he had followed from a range of highly articulate, activist people of all ages and sexual identities. But he has a now established pattern of deliberately seeking out women with whom to privately (and ultimately sexually) correspond.

If he had wanted her involvement in his campaign or on an issue in his district, one of his staffers would have written her.

If he knew she was 17 and p'm'ed her, I hope his ass is gone by Monday. This guy is a textbook sex addict. This is a process addiction; it embodies misogyny; and it's really, really stupid.

Maybe in a few years he can have his own TV cable news show.

[HipChick]

50. No,,,They request to follow him

[krabigirl]

48. meanwhile, we are in five wars, but that's ok.

[B-Stupid]

49. *Chris Hansen*

why don't you have a seat over there........

[Codeine]

75. . . .

[pnwmom]

53. Here are some quotes, supposedly from the tweets between them

if you believe this website. (I assume it's a freeper site.)

Remember how he talked about his cape and tights with Ms. Weiss? Apparently he also talked about his cape and tights with the teen -- but he says nothing indecent followed (unlike what followed with Ms. Weiss). Okay, maybe he's telling the truth -- but read what she says.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

http://patterico.com/2011/06/09/evidence-that-weiner-was-talking-dirty-to-underage-girls-part-3/

Ethel: I love 69ing big hunt + like to use honey mustard as lube. Ohh yeahh baby I love bdh weiner
May 22

Ethel on Tumblr, quoting Weiner: “I came back strong. Large. In charge. Tights and cape shit…” My favorite congressman<3
May 26

"You can choose to believe that Ethel, who publicly declared her love for Weiner repeatedly, and who had no compunction about dirty talk in public, turned prim and proper when Weiner talked to her in private . . . about his cape and tights. You can choose to believe that he didn’t know Ethel was underage, despite her youthful appearance, mentions of high school, and profile talking about marching band."

[Raine]

59. If that is accurate IMO he is in BIG trouble! nt

[Broderick]

61. Oh boy

Ouch if that's the case

[Whisp]

93. o geeze. betty and ethel fighting over an old man.

this just can't be good but I bet Weiners weiner liked the idea of little girls 'wanting' him. I want to puke.

and that Ethel has the kind of vocabulary that Wiener likes.

oiy.

[meow mix]

54. this is not going to go well

just a prediction

[frylock]

55. there's no reason not to believe him, right?

he's been pretty straightforward about this from jump.

[pnwmom]

63. LOL. n/t

[orion007]

65. After his days of blatant lies? n/t

[Mass]

78. No, but is there any reason to believe the girl's family who says the same thing?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1273874

BTW, it bothers nobody that Fox reported in front of her house. Shouldn't her privacy be protected? It is not to defend Wiener. He is a creep, but it is amazing how nobody cares about the girl.

[Canuckistanian]

64. Oh, no. Game over.

Sorry, man. Can't defend this one.

[MikeW]

68. its like watching a train wreck happening in slow motion

[ClarkUSA]

70. Just wait until the House Ethics investigation. That'll be like a plane crash in slo-mo for Dems..

Republicans will be dancing in the streets and leaking testimony from Weiner's Women & Minors like a sieve.

[bluestate10]

72. End. nt

:nopity:

[QuintanarooBoy]

76. Oh, Gawd!

This is like a drip-drip-drip wound.

[Doctor Hurt]

79. tweeting is slang for anal sex

as far as the media is concerned.

[Odin2005]

80. FUUUUUUK!!!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

81. Teen Was Not Targeted By Weiner Or Family Would Have Pressed Charges (NYDailyNews)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1273874

I hope to Christ some of you never serve on jury duty.

[FLPanhandle]

82. Weiner, I don't trust him

Fool me once...fool me twice (not going to happen)

[brooklynite]

83. I see two possibilities here...

1) Weiner didn't have a clue what he was doing when he was playing with Social media, and has been rushing around trying to figure out everyone he was tweeting since his announcement Monday.

2) Weiner was hoping nobody would find this factoid out, because then things would be real embarrassing.

I'd like to think it's (1), but I just can't convince myself.

[deacon]

84. Resign. Go away. He's got severe problems. n/t

[MadHound]

85. Weiner also said his Twitter account was hacked originally.

Why should I believe him on this one?

[alp227]

86. according to NYT the girl subscribed to AW's Twitter after a field trip to DC

article says the student "became an admirer of his after hearing him speak during a high school trip to Washington."

So what are we gonna do now, ban our students from meeting our members of Congress (at least the male ones) because it's bad enough they hang out with lobbyists and contribute to American hatred towards Washington but are also creepy towards children?

[MilesColtrane]

87. Buh-bye, dumbass.

[dems_rightnow]

91. Jesus, what's wrong with this guy?

It seems we can't believe what he says, and it's worse every damn day.

[Warrior Dash]

92. I'm sure Weiner was incredibly interested in the thoughts of this 17 year old...