Anthony Weiner can't figure out whether the infamous dic-pic is of his equipment or not. Not even the NY Times commenters are buying this level of ignorance.
Mr. Weiner was making the media rounds today, trying to get on top of this story. Let's apply the BaffleGab Translator is interview with Luke Russert.
What he said:
RUSSERT: That’s not a picture of you?
REP. WEINER: You know, I can’t say with certitude. My system was hacked. Pictures can be manipulated, pictures can be dropped in and inserted. One of the reasons that I’ve asked a firm that includes an internet security arm is to take a look into what the heck happened here to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
What he meant: I've hired an internet security firm to help me stitch together a plausible cover-up.
Weiner reprised some basic non-denial denials:
Asked if he had had private, email or Twitter conversations with the college student to whom the picture was sent, he said, "I don't know this woman, this woman doesn't know me." He said he hasn't spoken to her since the incident occurred, adding, "I'm a victim, but she certainly is."
Weiner insisted he did not send the photo and that this was a hack, or a prank. That prompted another evasion:
Weiner did not directly respond to a question about whether he knows who is responsible for the incident.
By all reports neither law enforcement nor Twitter have been asked for assistance in cracking this case. My earlier Bold Prediction that Team Weiner was looking for a fall guy among his friends, family and staff continues to look good. Presumably the legal counsel and the internet security firm are on board to make sure the cover story is air-tight. It is perfectly clear that what Weiner does not want is as real investigation.
It's also interesting watching the media rebellion. The NY Times is still mostly functioning as an adjunct press office for Weiner, but otherwise Weiner has done such a poor job of giving his media allies any ammunition at all that he is looking a bit abandoned out there. Possible theory - maybe there are libs who think their "women's lib" rhetoric should be taken seriously rather than merely used as a convenient club against right-wing targets. Maybe.
2 words ...
Fisheye Lens
Posted by: Jeff | June 01, 2011 at 04:50 PM
If Anthony Weiner would stick to tasteful portraits and lawn sculptures, he would not be having this problem.
Posted by: MayBee | June 01, 2011 at 05:00 PM
Ha, MayBee!!
Posted by: Porchlight | June 01, 2011 at 05:06 PM
Apparently Weiner is unfamiliar with the First Rule of Holes.
Posted by: lyle | June 01, 2011 at 05:09 PM
this is a pretty plausible theory on how someone could have hacked his yfrog account without a password and results in a tweet
Lee Stranahan thinks it could be true but does not explain Weiner's behavior
they want to pin this on the patriotUSA guy who first found the tweet, but he seems open to talking to FBI etc
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2011/06/weiner-affair-close-to-solution-but-i.html
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 05:14 PM
Anyone see this on CNN?
Posted by: Porchlight | June 01, 2011 at 05:14 PM
http://leestranahan.com/a-new-bizarre-yet-logical-answer-to-weinergate
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 05:15 PM
I love MayBee.
Make of that what you will.
Posted by: clarice Feldman | June 01, 2011 at 05:15 PM
Weiner did not directly respond to a question about whether he knows who is responsible for the incident.
Maybe Weiner & his staff (I know, loaded word!) were joking around in their man panties. Perhaps him & his staff pick out who Weiner will follow based on how pretty they are. Sounds like what a group of guys would do.
Posted by: Janet | June 01, 2011 at 05:16 PM
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 05:20 PM
windansea,
I know they want to blame it on the patriotUSA guy, but there is still no explanation as to how he would have gotten the pic, and due to lack of denial I think we can assume the pic is of Weiner.
Posted by: Porchlight | June 01, 2011 at 05:21 PM
in Tokyo today, and up early after a botched effort to get down to Tsukiji to shoot the fish market. Pouring rain, dammit. Been working on a photoessay for a number of years.
Mel, you've seen some of my rants about the global markets. There are just too many damn mines out there waiting to go off. Take your pick. Structurally we're a house of cards and the grown ups left the building sometime in the early 90's.
We hope we can limp onwards, but it is also quite obvious that socialism in all its forms is part of the problem, not the solution. As is the style of capitalism being practiced it is oligarchic and crony in nature.
Society has been infantilized as well. I think a lot of this derives from the Russian and especially Chinese experiences. Give the masses bread and circuses (or a marginally better lifestyle) and the insiders hold onto power and the money with an iron fist. China has exported a lot more than cheap goods. It has exported its ethical structure as well, which is none.
Just some happy thoughts on a rainy Tokyo morning.
Posted by: matt | June 01, 2011 at 05:22 PM
windansea-
Those make sense, but are not at all harmonious with the way he's been talking and acting.
Posted by: Melinda Romanoff | June 01, 2011 at 05:22 PM
If anyone missed this post, it contains the explanation for how someone who viewed the original yfrog image could have saved the incriminating or exculpatory evidence on their own computer as to whether the picture was taken by Weiner's blackberry.
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 05:27 PM
read the comments to Lee's post, they are trying to figure this out
http://leestranahan.com/a-new-bizarre-yet-logical-answer-to-weinergate
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 05:29 PM
I read them...still not making sense. Doesn't explain where the pic came from, who did the hack and why Weiner would be following Cordova *before* the tweeted photo.
Posted by: Porchlight | June 01, 2011 at 05:34 PM
It's the digital age's rendition of the axiomatic male politician's press nightmare: getting caught with a dead girl or a live boy. Obviously, the girl here is hardly dead but as for the live boy...
Damn, why couldn't we have an equivalent of the Brit press?
Posted by: lyle | June 01, 2011 at 05:35 PM
The purpose of the private internet security firm (hereinafter the "firm") is to produce the most plausible theory consistent with his complete innocence. The firm will not identify any wrongdoer. I assume the firm's fees are being payed out of Weiner's personal funds, but am eager to see that confirmed.
At no time will there be a public disclosure of all correspondence and communications between the firm and Weiner or his agents. In the event any report by the firm is made public, no one from the firm will respond to any questions about its communications with Weiner or his agents.
Anyone who has retained a consulting expert in litigation has already seen this movie.
Posted by: Danube of Thought | June 01, 2011 at 05:38 PM
he may have sent the pic to someone else before, someone that knew his yfrog address
he's definitely hiding something or someone as he does not want FBI on it, hired private firm
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 05:38 PM
Unexpetcted:
"Washington - Manufacturing in the U.S. grew at the slowest pace in a more than a year and employers added fewer jobs than forecast, sending share prices lower on concern a slowdown in the world’s largest economy will extend into the second quarter. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell more than projected to 53.5 last month, the lowest level since September 2009, from 60.4 in April, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today."
Posted by: Danube of Thought | June 01, 2011 at 05:39 PM
Hmmmm....so perhaps Weiner had sent that picture to someone in the past.
However, it could also simply be that Weiner took the pic on his iPhone and emailed it to his yFrog account without logging in.
Posted by: MayBee | June 01, 2011 at 05:42 PM
People, if there is some scandalous twitter happening involving me and clarice, BELIEVE IT.
xoxxo
Posted by: MayBee | June 01, 2011 at 05:43 PM
And it wouldn't explain why Weiner doesn't want the person that "hacked" him identified.
Posted by: Sue | June 01, 2011 at 05:44 PM
Lee's twitter feed is interesting, Topsecretk9, Ace and others trying to figure it out
http://twitter.com/#!/Stranahan
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 05:45 PM
It also doesn't explain that weird Seattle hashtag in the previous RepWeiner tweet:
#Thats545InSeattleIThink
Posted by: Porchlight | June 01, 2011 at 05:47 PM
If Tops is on the case it should be solved soon. :)
Posted by: Porchlight | June 01, 2011 at 05:48 PM
I'm dying to see any good explanation for someone past adolescence to shoot a pic of his pup tent and email it anywhere. Did he need a reminder of what he has..Is this for insurance purposes in case it gets lost or stolen?
Posted by: clarice Feldman | June 01, 2011 at 05:49 PM
And it wouldn't explain why Weiner doesn't want the person that "hacked" him identified.
perhaps it is a woman scorned who has more pics of the wiener (heeh), nobody seems to have ever spoken to Patriotusa "Dan Wolfe" and there was also repneedledick who seems to have disapperared
anyway, its a good mystery :)
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 05:51 PM
Drudge is finally linking stories about Weiner. New headline..."It might be my weiner". LOL.
Posted by: Sue | June 01, 2011 at 05:54 PM
clarice, I think when he saw that photo with the pouffed out hair, his cortex shut down and the rest of his brain went to its "happy place".
Posted by: Captain Hate | June 01, 2011 at 05:55 PM
Clarice
go to internet dating sites like adultfriendfinder and you will see a lot more than pup tents, and from both sexes
:)
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 06:00 PM
I've no doubt of that, windansea//I wasn't suggesting people don't do that..I was questioning why the hell they would..to people they don't know..
Posted by: clarice Feldman | June 01, 2011 at 06:02 PM
I was questioning why the hell they would..to people they don't know..
People are strange when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly when you're alone
Women seem wicked when you're unwanted
Streets are uneven when you're down
Posted by: windansea | June 01, 2011 at 06:06 PM
I'm dying to see any good explanation for someone past adolescence to shoot a pic of his pup tent and email it anywhere.
"I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."
Assuming he's straight. Same explanation for whoever he did send the pic to, if he didn't send it to the woman.
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 06:11 PM
Remember, Chuck Schumer assured us of Rep. Weiner's integrity.
Posted by: Janet | June 01, 2011 at 06:17 PM
So who's going to pick up the smear-Clarence-Thomas ball?
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 06:20 PM
“I don’t know the details,” Schumer said, according to the New York Daily News. “But I know him to be a person of integrity and I am virtually certain he had nothing to do with this.”
Posted by: Janet | June 01, 2011 at 06:21 PM
It depends on WHERE that ball is, Extraneus.
Posted by: Janet | June 01, 2011 at 06:21 PM
I don't know how popular Weiner is among the Washington left. He has their politics but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't support him. I've met him at an NYC real estate industry cocktail party and he struck me as being kind of a prick.
Posted by: Black Hat | June 01, 2011 at 06:38 PM
Well obviously it's an assignment that Weiner had, and now has to be re-assigned to some other attack dog. Surely not that ditz Wasserman-Shultz, but Schumer's slimy enough to take it on, surely.
Speaking of Wasserman-Shultz, she's being Fisked all over the place today for her comments on Ryan's Medicare plan.
After reading that, it seems that the longer the discussion on Ryan's plan goes on, the better it's likely to poll with voters.
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 06:40 PM
Ex,
DWS is a freeking robot programmed to say the same stupid s**t over amd over while blinking at a rate o 120 per minute. Now that WeinerWhiner is less relevant as a punching bag maybe Megyn Kelly can convince Old Blinky to be her special guest/foil?
Posted by: Jack is Back! | June 01, 2011 at 06:56 PM
Citing Joe DiGeneva on Bret Baer's FOX news Show, the following point was made (Apologies---Not exactly word perfect since it was only posted for a moment)
If Weiner had not been hacked but had reported to the authorities that he had been hacked then that would be the commission of a crime by Weiner, and he would then be subject to prosecution.
Interesting.
Posted by: daddy | June 01, 2011 at 07:06 PM
Heh. It's worth watching the Wolf Blitzer interview with Weiner. Wolf asked some good questions.
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 07:08 PM
Wow,
Finally got to see Jane's town on TV. FOX just showed Tornado stuff from a rooftop camera.
And for those who may have missed it, the last few comments on the previous thread show our Mass JOM team is okay, but Amy's house got clobbered and she and the kids and Jane rode it out safely in I think Jane's basement.
Posted by: daddy | June 01, 2011 at 07:12 PM
So if DiGeneva is correct, then Weiner doesn't want the police involved for 1 of 2 reasons.
1) He did it or knows who did it and doesn't want that embarrassing info of who and what he's been twittering to come out.
or
2) He knows he wasn't hacked and so won't call for police to investigate the hacking because that would be opening him to criminal charges.
Any other motivations make sense to you guys?
Posted by: daddy | June 01, 2011 at 07:18 PM
Stolen completely from AllahPundit:
pdate: Caleb Howe of Red State tested Cannonfire’s theory and found two problems. One: The alleged smoking gun involving a photo that lacks any Yfrog URL apparently isn’t much of a smoking gun. Cannonfire claimed that that was proof Weiner hadn’t posted the photo to his account; Howe did, however, post a photo to his own account — and it also lacked a Yfrog URL. Two: The only way someone could have inserted a photo into Weiner’s Twitter stream is if they had his Yfrog e-mail address, which turns out to be more obscure than you might think. It’s not simply deductive reasoning like “[email protected]”. There would be additional random numbers and/or letters added on to the address, almost like a password, so that only Weiner himself could access it. Cannonfire’s theory works only if you assume that the guilty party somehow figured out Weiner’s Yfrog e-mail address.
Posted by: MayBee | June 01, 2011 at 07:20 PM
Daddy- have you ever gone over to Himeji when you fly into Osaka?
Posted by: MayBee | June 01, 2011 at 07:21 PM
3) Hey, this happens thousands of times a day to people with the name Weiner. Just a prank -- maybe by my political enemies, those lovable rascals -- but surely it's time to move on now, and get back to the People's business. Ha ha, payback is a bitch. No sense wasting the taxpayers' money on some sort of expensive investigation, at least one that I'm not paying for.
Posted by: Extraneus | June 01, 2011 at 07:26 PM
Daddy,
1. He's being successfully blackmailed.
2. It really was a hack but any investigation would expose non-related criminal activity on his part.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | June 01, 2011 at 07:30 PM
MayBee,
Have never visited Himeji, but the castle looks magnificent.
Think I'll try to schedule a visit. I enjoy Osaka Castle as it has so much interesting history, especially in the big battle ushering in the Tokugawa Shogunate, but unfortunately it was pretty well demolished in WW2 bombing and so is rebuilt.
From a quick Google search it seems Himeji Castle made it thru the War untouched.
Looks beautiful!
Posted by: daddy | June 01, 2011 at 07:30 PM
Thanks, daddy.
I was hoping you could give me some bus info for a friend going there in a few weeks. I never went when I was there, but it looks pretty spectacular.
xxoox
Posted by: MayBee | June 01, 2011 at 07:34 PM
Thanks Rick,
Those 2 motivations you added make good sense to me as well.
Posted by: daddy | June 01, 2011 at 07:34 PM
Then let me ask the question a different way.
If Weiner is completely innocent and he has absolutely nothing to hide (no previous embarrassing dirty laundry sort of weird postings to young girls or blackmail or to protect an aide who did it etc) is there any legitimate reason why he wouldn't advise authorities to investigate a hacking if he legitimately thought that he was hacked?
Posted by: daddy | June 01, 2011 at 07:43 PM
Daddy, if I'm hacked it's damn the dirty laundry set authorities to destroy hacker. I can think of no reason to contain info unless said dirty laundry is actual illegal activity of my own.
Posted by: henry | June 01, 2011 at 08:05 PM
Who pays for the phone? The US Government? If so, bingo.
Posted by: MarkO | June 01, 2011 at 08:13 PM
Ah, ha. Doomed.
According to the House regulations, any Member “must immediately report any unauthorized access or unusual system activities to the House Information Resources Security Office (202-226-6448). HIR will investigate any breaches of the Internet security system.” This rule would apply to Rep. Anthony Weiner’s claim of a hacker gaining access to his official facebook and twitter accounts
Posted by: MarkO | June 01, 2011 at 08:22 PM
"is there any legitimate reason why he wouldn't advise authorities to investigate a hacking if he legitimately thought that he was hacked?"
Patrick Fitzgerald
Posted by: Rick Ballard | June 01, 2011 at 09:17 PM
Himeji is lovely to wander about. I think we arrived too late and left too early to see the inside of the castle but the outside was magnificent.
Posted by: clarice Feldman | June 01, 2011 at 09:26 PM
Very funny, Rick. The Blago retrial continues apace and still no sign of Rezko. His partner's sentencing has been postponed though..and still no word of the results of any investigation into who leaked the info about the wiretapping, a leak that seems to have saved Rahm and Obama's bacon.
Posted by: clarice Feldman | June 01, 2011 at 09:33 PM
"The government always used to deny that Iranians become Christians," said Elam's David Yeghnazar, but now the church has become too strong to ignore. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei declared the house church network "enemies of Iran" in an October speech, which analysts labeled a rare public acknowledgement of the movement.
Posted by: cheap custom jerseys | June 01, 2011 at 09:36 PM
Anthony, each tweet, IM, email, etc., incorporates an identification header records all aspects of the communication. It will tell us if your account was indeed hacked or not. These headers are the material used as evidence in a court of law Anthony. All you have to do is allow a forensic investigation of your device on this one tweet alone and no the headers can’t be deleted by virtue of its design. This will answer any and all questions. The downside of this Anthony to you is that headers don't lie
Posted by: Tina | June 01, 2011 at 09:38 PM
--"All you have to do is allow a forensic investigation of your device..."--
Can't add to that.
Posted by: Threadkiller | June 01, 2011 at 09:59 PM
--"All you have to do is allow a forensic investigation of your device..."--
Is there a mole?
Posted by: Stephanie | June 01, 2011 at 09:59 PM
So maybe his wife was using his picture to get the young lady from Seattle?
Hope everyone dodges the storms.
I like the Heat because Maro Chalmers played for KU, and won the National Champ in 1908. That is the only reason.
And the Red Wings are out of it so I don't care who wins the Stanly Cup.
Oh there are no more missing in Joplin from the big tornado so the final is 134, until they find more in the rubble..With it being 90 degrees, they should be able to find them all soon.
That's all.
Posted by: Agent J. (formally known as "J".. | June 01, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Take your pick. Structurally we're a house of cards and the grown ups left the building sometime in the early 90's.
Posted by: cheap customized jerseys | June 06, 2011 at 10:14 PM