Weiner’s Deception on When (and Why) He Came Clean
This June 2011 calendar plays a central role in what you are about to read.
Our own Sammy Finkelman noticed an interesting discrepancy between Anthony Weiner’s statements at his June 2011 press conference, and the story told by him and Huma Abedin to the New York Times in an April 2013 puff piece.
The puff piece portrayed Weiner as coming clean with his wife the “weekend” before his Monday, June 6, 2011 press conference:
By June 1, when Weiner said, “I can’t say with certitude” if the picture was of him, it was clear, at least to most of the world, that he was guilty of something. That weekend, Weiner and Abedin escaped to a friend’s house in the Hamptons to get away from all the “hoopla,” as Weiner calls it, “and that’s when people starting coming out of the woodwork. I got a call from Chris Cuomo saying that they had someone who was going to say that I texted with her. It reached this point where I just sat down with Huma and said, ‘Listen, I can’t. . . . I don’t want to lie.’ . . . I just didn’t want to lie anymore to her.” Here, his voice cracks and tears well up in his eyes. “I have a choppy memory of it, but she was devastated. She immediately said, ‘Well you’ve got to stop lying to everyone else too.’ And basically we drove back to the city, and she said: ‘You’ve just got to tell everyone the truth. Telling me doesn’t help any.’ It was brutal. It was completely out of control. There was the crime, there was the cover-up, there was harm I had done to her. And there’s no one who deserved this less than Huma. That’s really the bottom line. No one deserved to have a dope like me do that less than she did.”
It happened on the weekend, did it, Rep. Weiner? Just a crisis of conscience, was it, buddy? Let’s read on:
Abedin’s memory of this moment is a little sharper. “The weekend was over, we’re about to leave, the car is packed, and Anthony said: ‘I have something to tell you. I can’t lie to you anymore. It’s true. It’s me. The picture is me. I sent it. Yes, these stories about the other women are true.’ And it was every emotion that one would imagine: rage and anger and shock. But more than anything else, in the immediate, it was disbelief. The thing that I consciously remember saying over and over and over again is: ‘I don’t understand. What is going on? What’s happening to our lives?’ ”
We’re getting closer to the truth, but this is still deceptive. “The weekend was over” to most people would suggest that he came clean on Sunday night (June 5) just before they headed back, as most people drive back on the Sunday night of a weekend trip.
That’s not what he said the next day, though.
Here’s from Weiner’s Monday, June 6, 2011 press conference:
WEINER: My wife has known about some of these on-line relationships since before we were married. And we spoke frankly about them because — well, we spoke frankly about them. But she didn’t know until this morning that I had not been telling the truth about whether I posted the Twitter posting last week.
Look at the calendar. The weekend was June 3-5. The press conference was on Monday, June 6, which is not typically thought of as “the weekend.”
Either he told her over the weekend (as he told the New York Times) or he told her on the morning of June 6 (as he said at his press conference).
Why does it matter whether he told her about it over the weekend or on Monday morning?
I’ll tell you why: because early Monday morning, June 6, 2011, Andrew Breitbart published an article proving that Weiner had sexted with Meagan Broussard..
I can’t think of a reason that Weiner would have lied at the press conference about telling Huma on Monday morning.
But I can think of a reason why he would falsely try to suggest he came clean over the “weekend”: to falsely suggest that his confession was motivated by a noble desire to tell the truth, rather than forced by Andrew Breitbart.
I spoke to Andrew Breitbart on the phone on Sunday, June 5, 2011, and he told me what he had, and that it was going to be coming out the next day. He allowed me to tease it in an update to this June 5, 2011 post as well as another stand-alone post, published at 10:57 p.m. on June 5, 2011, quoting a tweet of Andrew’s saying “#Weinergate taking new turn tomorrow in AM.”
Breitbart published his first piece early on June 6. A commenter of mine noted by 3:48 a.m. Pacific on June 6, 2011 that Breitbart’s story was up.
That’s what caused old Anthony Weiner to ‘fess up.
Naturally, his confession was portrayed in the New York Times as prompted by Weiner’s super-honest and not-at-all-coerced-by-revelations confession to his wife over the “weekend.”
But that was a lie. His hand was forced Monday morning by Andrew Breitbart. Period. If Breitbart had not published, Weiner would have kept lying about the original Weinertweet.
And then in the summer of 2012, he started sexting and lying again. I guess he thought he could get away with it . . . now that Breitbart was dead.
UPDATE: You know he’s probably sexting RIGHT NOW, telling a woman he wished they wouldn’t have fuzzed up the images of his penis on TheDirty.com, so she could see just what he wants to gag her with.
I’m deleting a portion of the update that was up for a couple of minutes because it relied on a Breitbart.com post which has now disappeared without explanation, which appears to be what they do these days when they screw up. I don’t really trust that site any more.
Weiner is scum, Huma is scum, the country is going to hell. Participatory democracy was fun while it lasted.
JVW (23867e) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:37 pmBreitbart is Here.
SPQR (768505) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:38 pmRemember that Bill Clinton — who we are told is the most popular ex-President of all time — sexually assaulted Kathleen Wiley in the Oval Office and suffered no consequences. Next to that, Weiner’s transgressions are minor.
JVW (23867e) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:38 pmIt’s not a lie if you believe it.
Dustin channels George Costanza (39c540) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:47 pmBreitbart is not here, unfortunately.
Patterico (9c670f) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:47 pmAnthony Weiner apparently cannot help but lie, but I think that’s a huge part of the appeal for him.
He likes the idea that he’s being dangerous. He likes continuing the lie. I don’t think running for Mayor would appeal to him if he couldn’t have this kind of scandal lurking around at the same time, and of course he likely has other scandals lurking around too.
What a disaster waiting to happen for NYC.
But the more we see how awful this guy is… he actually said this stuff devastated his wife, and then explained he kept doing it because of a rough patch in his marriage… it’s no surprise that the Weiner Defense Force was as nasty and ruthless as they were. Weiner would have it no other way.
I imagine anyone credible who ran against Weiner would come up against a lot of dirty tricks.
Dustin channels (39c540) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:51 pm🙁
He was the exact opposite of Anthony Weiner.
Dustin (39c540) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:51 pmwhat do it say about whoreyorkers that this man is their next mayor
happyfeet (c60db2) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:53 pmMost Dems do NOT shame or embarrass easy.
Colonel Haiku (969fb3) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:56 pmthat goes double for New Yorkers.
Colonel Haiku (969fb3) — 7/24/2013 @ 6:56 pmI like how WeinerTweeter was getting his freak on with his secproggie activist while People was printing their hagiographic nonsense.
JD (b63a52) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:03 pmbucket list-masturbate in..or near..the oscar mayer weiner mobile-to a picture of morgan freeman
pdbuttons (caf6d6) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:09 pmI miss the relentless honesty of Andrew Breitbart, and the delicately skewering wit of Cathy Seipp. The country is in worse shape without them.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes C.O.R. (6109d3) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:13 pmYou said better than I could, Bradley.
norcal (18343b) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:17 pmGood catch, Sammy.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:17 pmmorgan freeman is a fascist and acting-wise he’s been coasting for some time
morgan the phone-it-in fascist yup that’s what I call morgan freeman
happyfeet (8ce051) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:22 pmSweet Jesus! I’m 62 and have seen some some pretty rasty stuff in my life but this is just pure, absolute surrealism on any level!
Angelo (8a9738) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:28 pmWeiner’s selflessly doing y’all a big favor, see. The campaign is just too darn important for him to abandon. Rep. Nadler, however, seems to have nailed the major reason why Weiner should not be put in charge of the nation’s largest city.
elissa (6ffc7b) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:34 pmThere’s a short list of Democrats who have ever acted like it’s wrong to have sex outside marriage, let alone phone or email sex outside marriage.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:41 pmWEINER: My wife has known about some of these on-line relationships since before we were married.
Wait a minute. Doesn’t that one quote pretty much nullify all the hand wringing and boo-hooing supposedly done by him and Huma when his text messaging first became public knowledge and he claimed he had to confess to her? Or was it actually a case of her having to confess to him—ie, maybe she gets turned on by the women in Weiner’s online life? BTW, a guy who is obsessed over his genitals the way Weiner is, is, in effect, sort of reflecting the ultimate form of homosexuality, since sexual narcissism is a fascination with one’s own gender.
Mark (12f15d) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:42 pmBrother Bradley – hear hear.
Damn, for some reason, I’ve really been missing several people this summer. Breitbart, Cathy Seipp and Joel Rosenberg (who made a brief appearance in these comment sections some years ago I believe).
SPQR (768505) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:42 pmThank you, Patterico, for clarifying Mr Breitbart’s role in the “outing” of the particulars of Weinergate. I had heard Andrew had written about it but wasn’t quite sure how much he was a part of the public account that compelled then-Congressman Weiner to “fess up”.
Honestly. This person borders on narcissist creepiness. Why is he still taken seriously as an anything. Of course one could say that if this wasn’t NY or another major city perhaps it wouldn’t be receiving quite as much national attention as it is.
Would be better if he were to: grow up. Barring that, perhaps he could behave like an actual adult and go to counseling, foreswearing all social media and no internet unless in the vicinity of his wife.
Also its this creepish weirdness. A “real man”, if he’s so inclined to fool around would have the manhood to go to the Vegas bunny ranch or hit up an actual woman and go have sex. Not this…this….middle school pubescent “sexting” a la “hey I think you’re sooo hot, emoticom emoticom.”
GROW UP. 48yrs old, its way past the time. Grown ups either fornicate or they man up and stop acting so childish.
Do a wiki search on John Porfumo and what he endured. Now there was a man, not a wuss. A real man. Read it and learn how to behave.
Kenneth Simmons (6f8eca) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:43 pmPatterico, no offense intended my friend.
SPQR (768505) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:43 pmIt’s ALL about power.
Icy (d41128) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:45 pmKenneth, you never saw the way that Breitbart hijacked the beginning of Weiner’s press conference June 6th?
It was really hilarious. Great performance art.
SPQR (768505) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:46 pmKenneth, no, we don’t want Weiner cleaning communal toilets, or anywhere near them for that matter.
nk (875f57) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:48 pmGROW UP. 48yrs old, its way past the time
His still being of the left — well past his grade-school years, well past his college years — is in itself a sign of his or any other person’s immaturity.
Mark (12f15d) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:49 pmHollywood stars like George Clooney show more self respect and dignity than this piece of melodrama. Clooney doesnt behave so childish and immature in public.
And its all about him. What a way to campaign for public office.
My point was also that Profumo showed remorse and for the rest of his life vanished from the public sphere. He knew what he did was wrong and didnt seek to make a second career out of it.
When is Weiner going to go on Howard Stern’s show and discuss it. Maybe next year he could get a reality show contract as well.
Kenneth Simmons (6f8eca) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:53 pmI really don’t see a problem with the voters of NYC electing a creepy internet pervert as mayor if they want.
Besides, this is not about the Weiner anymore. It’s about setting up his cuckquean wife for future success.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:55 pmPatterico: [object TextRange]to the game-changer at Breitbart.com (originally posted on BigGovernment.com
aunursa (7014a8) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:58 pm#$%T^# Curses…
Anyway, here is the link…
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2011/06/06/Weinergate-Bombshell–New-Woman-Comes-Forward-Claiming-Cache-of-Intimate-Photos-and-Online-Communications-with-Beleaguered-Congr
aunursa (7014a8) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:59 pmWell, bravo to Mr Breitbart for that part of the story. Undie pics on twitter, no less.
And he could win the mayoral race. But then, with Kristen Davis running for comptroller, why not?
Perhaps Weiner’s old pal Jon Stewart will have him on as guest again to talk about it.
Kenneth Simmons (6f8eca) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:05 pmFor those who may need to catch up, here is a good backgrounder on Huma and her interesting family.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/354351/huma-unmentionables-andrew-c-mccarthy
elissa (6ffc7b) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:24 pmelissa, I especially enjoyed this post of Sammy’s on the other Weiner thread:
See, he won’t lose votes if people don’t worry about it happening again. And Weiner only sexts when he’s stressing. But he says the stress is gone, and really what mayor of a large city ever experiences stress?
If Weiner’s elected it won’t be just him who needs serious psychiatric help.
Steve57 (2dd692) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:40 pmGloria Allred is praying that he is elected mayor, Steve. She is licking her chops. The sexual harassment suits and settlements against him and NYC will be epic. There is no way he can control his perversion.
elissa (6ffc7b) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:52 pmHuma will be the Secretary of State in the Emanuel administration. Or maybe Clinton, Bayh, Cuomo or Kaine administration. It really doesn’t matter.
She is the smart, aggrieved wife who stood by her tragically wounded husband.
In about 11 months, she will divorce the Weiner. Then the media will begin to trumpet her ability to raise a child alone while maintaining her political instincts and smarts.
Because, she’s aggrieved. And smart. And a single Mom dedicated to raising an innocent child without a father at home because of what?
And poor old Carlos Danger will be hanging out at the playground looking for an internet hook-up with a show on MSNBC.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:52 pmOr not, Ag80? HRC never divorced Bill. And look at how she is lionized.
She of the “vast Right wing conspiracy” meme. Oh dear Lord.
Simon Jester (8e7eff) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:56 pmOh, I was too abrupt; I am just annoyed that Breitbart.com apparently disappeared another story without explanation. Last time I criticized them for doing that I was told that guy in charge said I am dead to them. Which, fine. Seems like Andrew’s spirit of forthrightness is dead to them too. I allowed my renewed resentment over that to cause me to respond to you too abruptly.
Patterico (9c670f) — 7/24/2013 @ 8:58 pmI dunno Ag80–Huma is facing something of a backlash after publicly defending her husband. There is an unscientific poll attached to this article that suggests her skeevy “stand by your man” act is not playing in
PeoriaNew York.http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/07/24/huma-abedin-takes-center-stage-defending-anthony-weiner-amid-sexting-scandal/
elissa (6ffc7b) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:00 pmSimon, with all due respect, the President Clinton did the deed in real life before, during and after his Presidency.
The Weiner, not so much. Actually fornicating is different from texting what you may or may not be able to do.
This is important to Democrats.
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:02 pmIf Breitbart WAS here, he wouldn’t let breitbart.com do what they do when they mess up…
thebronze (5fdf2b) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:09 pmthe guy is so abby normal… Jaysus H. Keerist, “mortified” is a condition he will never be accused of suffering. Just how low can he go?!?!
Colonel Haiku (5f241d) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:11 pmi hate him Mr. colonel he reminds me of a spidermonkey that won’t stop touching his penis
happyfeet (8ce051) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:20 pmsee i mean?
http://www.primates.com/monkeys/images/spidm.jpg
happyfeet (8ce051) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:20 pmI bet baboons wish they had phones and could do sexting and butt tweets. Life is not fair.
elissa (6ffc7b) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:22 pmAg80, #40: with respect…no, the Democrats don’t care about those things. Clinton was given a pass, too.
Sigh.
Simon Jester (8e7eff) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:46 pmPatterico, I’ve not said anything because I did not know your relationship to the current management at breitbart.com but I share your disapproval.
The current management of breitbart.com, they are dead to me. Incompetent and devoid of ethics. They are weasels. F’em.
SPQR (768505) — 7/24/2013 @ 10:01 pmThe bad news about this, SPQR, is that *I* don’t know what you know about the company. So I will take your word (and Patterico’s feelings about them) seriously.
Simon Jester (8e7eff) — 7/24/2013 @ 10:08 pmThese people have no problem with the sort of behavior that would make your average jack n’ Jill find a rock to crawl under and hide.
Colonel Haiku (0f1c4b) — 7/24/2013 @ 10:11 pmI bet baboons wish they had phones and could do sexting and butt tweets. Life is not fair.
Comment by elissa (6ffc7b) — 7/24/2013 @ 9:22 pm
Heard of butt dialing, I have! But, Butt Tweeting? Like farting is it? Yoda, confused is!
Yoda (ee1de0) — 7/24/2013 @ 10:51 pmIt’s still working. It’s just a bad idea.
Former Conservative (ed5350) — 7/24/2013 @ 10:52 pmYoda once butt dial dark female Jedi by mistake. Much sweating, groaning, and thrusting with light saber ensued. After long battle, Yoda emerged victorious! Dark female Jedi vanquished with Yoda’s light saber! Lucky that light saber still in one piece, I am!
Yoda (ee1de0) — 7/24/2013 @ 10:58 pmYoda — as it was explained to me by a super-nerd youngster over the weekend, your phone is awakened by your butt, hears sounds, does speech to text conversion into a message, and your butt sends it. She’s changed to a waistband “holster” for her phone.
htom (412a17) — 7/24/2013 @ 11:05 pmI haven’t trusted them since AB died. I stay away from that site.
Bets (717964) — 7/24/2013 @ 11:39 pmWell, I don’t want to seem out of line or rude about it, but — uh, ahem . . . WHEN the f*ck was Hillary Clinton’s personal assistant ever “a top State Department official”?
Icy (d41128) — 7/25/2013 @ 12:54 amHuffPo pulling no punches and giving the straight scoop on Huma!
Icy (d41128) — 7/25/2013 @ 1:12 amIcy, that may well be the lamest article I have ever read in my life.
Dustin (303dca) — 7/25/2013 @ 1:23 amPatterico: I can’t think of a reason that Weiner would have lied at the press conference about telling Huma on Monday morning.
Because he didn’t want much of a gap between when he told his wife and when he told the public.
Later on, in 2013, he wanted to give her credit for counseling him to tell the truth, so he moved his telling her back in time a bit. What he confessed to her also changed.
Weiner did not claim at the press conference that his wife did not know about this propensity of his (although this is sort of implied in the later New York Times magazine article – Huma Abedin is all shocked about this there) but on;y that she did not know he had “not been telling the truth about whether I posted the Twitter posting.”
W
happened on Monday morning is that that is when he decided to admit the picture was his – that sending What really could have such pictures was something he did.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 7/25/2013 @ 3:33 amWhat really happened on Monday morning June 6, 2011, is that that is when he decided to admit the picture was his – that sending such pictures was something he did.
I don’t think that Weiner had any idea how the tweet was posted.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 7/25/2013 @ 3:37 am==Icy, that may well be the lamest article I have ever read in my life.==
Is it mainly the red lipstick angle or the entire puff piece that you object to Dustin?
elissa (efbe0d) — 7/25/2013 @ 4:13 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMTOXAcCkIw
Alright. I’m looking for a excuse to post this video.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 7/25/2013 @ 4:24 amIt mentions weener. Twice.
Elissa – can’t it be both?
JD (54c5d8) — 7/25/2013 @ 6:07 amHow about Alec Baldwin denouncing Anthony Weiner, a wormhole of absurdity just opened up.
narciso (3fec35) — 7/25/2013 @ 6:19 amlet’s be honest here
Colonel Haiku (d9226e) — 7/25/2013 @ 6:50 amcan Weiner ever get “clean”?
skin maybe soul meh
elissa, thanks for the link at #33. I was aware of some of Huma Abedin’s connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadi terrorism, but not aware of the many ways her position in Hillary Clinton’s State Department facilitated active members of designated Islamic terrorist organizations being granted admission not only to the US but to the White House itself.
Abadin’s marriage to Anthony Weiner serves to conceal her true function by misidentifying her as merely the poor put-upon doormat wife of a self-destructive cad. Which provides the necessary cover for her stealth position as the sharp end of the Muslim Brotherhood’s deadly spear. She’s their top mole inside the highest levels of our government.
Anthony Weiner might just as well be an autoeroique marionette dildo prancing about self absorbed in NY’s public arena while the Muslim Brotherhood’s jihadi porn queen, hiding in plain sight, pulls his strings as she puts on a much more serious show for a highly placed and very private audience.
ropelight (5cfcae) — 7/25/2013 @ 7:45 am==Icy, that may well be the lamest article I have ever read in my life.==
Is it mainly the red lipstick angle or the entire puff piece that you object to Dustin?
Comment by elissa (efbe0d) — 7/25/2013 @ 4:13 am
— For my part, I say “both”. It’s bad enough that they’re seeking to define her identity by her ‘look’ (War on Women much, libs?) but the pains to which the writer goes in trying to draw substance from fluff is downright embarrassing to read.
I mean, just look at the title of the article: “Huma Abedin’s Red Lipstick Takes Her Through Tough Times.” Does that not sound like it came right out of The Onion? One can just imagine Huma sitting at her dressing table, staring forlornly into her makeup mirror, contemplating the hopelessly unhappy mess that her life has become . . . absently, she looks down — and then, a smile comes across her face as she picks up a familiar tube filled with crimson joy. “Hello, old friend,” she says sweetly. “My life partner may have abandoned my affections, but at least I will always have you.”
Icy (828894) — 7/25/2013 @ 10:40 am“Last time I criticized them for doing that I was told that guy in charge said I am dead to them.”
Did they really do that? Then it’s hardly much of a loss to write them off myself, given their other issues.
Sarahw (b0e533) — 7/25/2013 @ 11:02 amI want to say the latter, but honestly it’s the dumbess of this lipstick trope and photo montage. It’s everything wrong with modern politics, starting with the dumb fame worship.
Dustin (303dca) — 7/25/2013 @ 11:33 amIt was temple prostitutes who first painted their lips to advertise their specialty. Just sayin’
ropelight (5cfcae) — 7/25/2013 @ 11:52 am19. Comment by DRJ (a83b8b) — 7/24/2013 @ 7:41 pm
There’s a short list of Democrats who have ever acted like it’s wrong to have sex outside marriage, let alone phone or email sex outside marriage.
Let alone? Weiner has always talked like the first thing is worse.
June 6, 2011:
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 7/25/2013 @ 12:22 pmWhat’s the difference between Weiner and some guy who stands on a street corner and flashes someone?The only difference as far as I can tell is his perversion is practiced in the virtual world.
If New York elects him after hearing this, then there’s no hope for them.
rochf (f3fbb0) — 7/25/2013 @ 1:54 pmComment by rochf (f3fbb0) — 7/25/2013 @ 1:54 pm
What’s the difference between Weiner and some guy who stands on a street corner and flashes someone?The only difference as far as I can tell is his perversion is practiced in the virtual world.
That’s more or less what Bob Schieffer said in his commentary on Face the Nation Sunday (July 28)
. . . However, the tweet that was sent out to everyone was sent accidentally, most likely in a way that Anthony Weiner, to this day, does not understand, so it’s not the same.
In June, 2011, some people on the Internet figured out how it could have been tweeted (they thought somebody else might have done it, but Anthony Weiner could do this to himself, too, and him doing it does not involved anybody else obtaining one of those pictures)
Otherwise, he would only send them to women he was already in contact with, probably after asking if they were willing to see it.
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