Weiner Caught with His Pants Down

The story was initially broken by Andrew Breitbart, a well-known conservative activist, who reported that Weiner sent the lewd picture to one of his followers on Twitter, a 21-year-old female college student in the Seattle area. Weiner denies sending the photo and has asserted that his Twitter account and Blackberry had been hacked. However, he has not denied that the picture in question is in fact a picture of him.

In failed attempts to minimize the impact of the controversy, Weiner has sat down to a number of interviews with major networks. Due to his sometimes combative responses, as well as his inability to say ''with certitude'' that the underwear shot is not him, Weiner has only succeeded in drawing more attention to the situation.


When pressed by CNN's Ted Barrett to answer questions about ''Weinergate,'' during a press conference, an irate Weiner responded by calling the journalist a ''jackass''. He said he would not be addressing the issue any further but the next day he engaged in more interviews on the matter. In a CBS News interview, Weiner said that he was relying on a privately-hired attorney and an internet security operation to provide guidance on the issue, rather than involving law enforcement. ''I don't believe this is a federal case, I don't believe that this is a capital crime. I believe that this is a bit of mischief,'' said Weiner.

In hiring a private company to conduct the investigation, Weiner will be able to maintain control over what information is released to the public and what is kept confidential throughout the investigation. According to CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford, Weiner's refusal to involve law enforcement may be an attempt at self-preservation. While it's not illegal to lie to the media, lying to law enforcement authorities is a different story. ''Martha Stewart went to jail not for insider trading, but lying. Barry Bonds gets charged, goes to trial, not for using steroids-for lying about it,'' said Ford.

Still others assert that Weiner's refusal to ask for legal assistance may actually be a method of limiting the amount of information that can be recovered from his accounts. According to a Twitter policy, posting information cannot be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal documents. However, Weiner maintains that his decision to refuse law enforcement involvement stems from his belief that he shouldn't get special treatment just because he is a member of Congress.

And of course, many are also wondering why a 46-year old married man would be following a college student on Twitter at all. Weiner married an aide to Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin, just under a year ago. Weiner insists that he does not personally know the Washington college student, Genette Cordova, and she has upheld Weiner's innocence in the matter.

''The account that these tweets were sent from was familiar to me; this person had harassed me many times after the Congressman followed me on Twitter a month or so ago. Since I had dealt with this person and his cohorts before, I assumed that the tweet and the picture were their latest attempts at defaming the Congressman and harassing his supporters,'' said Cordova.

Nonetheless, the controversy has caused many of Weiner's constituents to question his creditability, which is sure to impact his chances in the 2013 election. After an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination as mayor of New York City in 2005, many have been optimistic that Weiner will be the candidate to replace Mayor Michael Bloomberg when his final term ends in 2013. Now, some of that optimism has faded.