Much suspicion in the WeinerGate scandal has focused on the Twitter user @PatriotUSA76, who identifies himself as Dan Wolfe, but who is unwilling publicly to confront questions about his role.
It was @PatriotUSA76 who, some weeks ago, specifically predicted an online sex scandal involving Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), and then quickly spotted the Friday photo-Tweet that launched the scandal. Several liberals have accused Wolfe/@PatriotUSA76 of having “hacked” Weiner’s account to create a hoax, which Wolfe denies. But, as the Smoking Gun reports today, Wolfe “claims he is fearful that his leading role in ‘Weinergate’ will focus attention on a multitude of his own ‘major personal problems’ that he is “afraid…will all come out.'”
Some have claimed that Wolfe is part of a right-wing conspiracy involving Andrew Breitbart, whose Web site BigGovernment.com first broke the story Saturday that the photo of a man’s crotch had been Tweeted from Weiner’s account. Breitbart strenuously denies this, and yesterday began asking if anyone knows anything about the mysterious Wolfe, and pushing @PatriotUSA76 to come forward:
Meanwhile, independent filmmaker Ladd Ehlinger Jr. shares his own e-mail exchanges with @PatriotUSA76, shedding light on the mystery man whose role in the WeinerGate scandal is arousing curiosity among journalists in Washington, New York and elsewhere:
Anyway, I firmly believe that the accused has a right to face the accuser. Even for someone as despicable as RAW. Without that, anyone could be tormented for life by anonymous creeps and sock puppets. . . .
When Patriot and I were originally e-mailing on Sunday and Monday, I was under the impression that he was just a guy seeking to expose corruption in higher office. Cool. But the more I started looking at the story, and the more I started looking at his cyber-behavior, the more I realized that he-she-it was using tactics I am thoroughly against. He ceased communications with me entirely when I pressed the urgency of going to the FBI and discarding the mask and tactics of the anonymous Twitter stalker. . . .
Come out of the shadows, point with index finger to the sun and shout, “J’accuse!” And get it the hell over with. Alas, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. . . .
Read the whole thing. I expect to have much more later today, as several other people are now following this same angle on the WeinerGate story. If you know anything about @PatriotUSA, you can send tips to me by Twitter ( @rsmccain) or send tips to @AndrewBreitbart.
UPDATE: Ace of Spades excoriates lazy reporters for refusing to fact-check Weiner’s assertions about what happened (and when) on Friday:
Weiner has now lied repeatedly about this tweet going out “while I was tweeting about hockey.” Not only has he lied serially about the timing, but the Make Believe Media, not citing him but asserting as fact based on its own investigation, has claimed this, repeatedly.
I think they just took Weiner’s flack’s word for it and said “Eh, that’s probably right.”
Um, it’s now six days since the story broke. Can you now check the actual time-stamps and determine if this claim is, what is the German word for it….?, true?In fact, it is not true. Weiner was publicly silent for three and a half hours before the dic-pic tweet. He blogged about the tivo eating his hockey game four minutes after that event, thinking, I guess, that would be a nice cover for him.
Assuming the Make Believe Media wouldn’t even check.
And by God, he was right, wasn’t he? . . .
There’s much more where that came from. Apologies to readers for my having fallen behind on WeinerGate coverage today but, as I explained in a wee-hours message, my wife is sick and that required me to spend time tending to family business. Your tip-jar contributions will be greatly appreciated, and thanks to those who have already given to help this reader-supported journalism project.
There is now a Memeorandum thread about the @PatriotUSA76 mystery, and many more developments that I’ll be aggregating in updates here throughout the afternoon.
UPDATE II: We all know that there are two ways that Anthony Weiner could end this scandal:
- Call for a law-enforcement investigation of who “hacked” his account; or
- Admit that, indeed, it was he who sent the crotch-photo Tweet.
But he won’t do either of those two things, which is angering somebody’s mother:
The furious mom of the Seattle college coed at the center of Weinergate yesterday demanded that the cocky congressman come clean about the lewd photo.
“I’m really upset. I feel like he’s a person of power and influence, who can make a statement and make all this go away,” Carol Mizuguchi said, blasting Rep. Anthony Weiner for his continued snarky sidestepping.
“As her mother, I’m really upset,” Mizuguchi told The Post. “I’m pissed off at that.”
Mizuguchi’s 21-year-old daughter, Gennette Cordova, got the surprise package — a close-up of an underwear-clad crotch — over the weekend in a tweet from Weiner’s account.
After days of dodging, Weiner yesterday admitted he “can’t say with certitude” that the photo isn’t of him.
But he continued to deny he sent the picture.
The pol’s refusal to clarify things has made a bad situation more difficult for her daughter, Mizuguchi said.
“It’s a distraction [for Gennette],” she said. “It’s during her finals and she’s 21 years old.”
Hat-tips to Ace, Jammie Wearing Fool and Hot Air Headlines.
UPDATE III: Joe Brooks at Wire Update also exchanged e-mails with @PatriotUSA76.
UPDATE IV: Mickey Kaus jumps aboard the Who Is @PatriotUSA76 Bandwagon. This is, perhaps, a sidetrack to the main story — i.e., when will Weiner do the right thing? — but it is important, if you take seriously the left-wing bloggers who claim that @PatriotUSA76 orchestrated a hoax.
And doesn’t everybody take left-wing bloggers seriously?
The Media Research Center provides this video compilation of Anthony Weiner dodging the key question of whether the now infamous Tweet-photo is actually him:
And the editors of Big Government say that Weiner’s private investigation of this incident is insufficient:
Hacking into private accounts, impersonating a federal elected official, and deleting evidence that may be subject to federal investigation are each criminal offenses. Failure to report suspected cybercrime is also a breach of House of Representatives rules.
The American people deserve to know whether these violations, having been alleged or described, actually occurred.
UPDATE V: Andrew C. McCarthy at National Review joins the call for an investigation:
Congressman Weiner is no doubt a strong supporter of Attorney General Holder’s aggressive efforts to root out computer crime. He could perform a valuable public service by doing what the government he is part of encourages all citizens to do: Report this outrage to the authorities!
UPDATE VI: While I was out today running errands (i.e., with the wife sick, I’m on taxi duty for the kids), I stopped in at a convenience store and picked up a copy of the Washington Post, which played WeinerGate on the bottom of the front page:
That’s a story by Karen Tumulty and Felicia Sonmez, the online version of which is headlined, “Anthony Weiner’s plan to cool Twitter furor backfires.” It’s a good summary of the story up through Wednesday evening, but includes little that you didn’t already know, if you’ve been following the story online. The Post also had a story on the front page of their popular Style section:
That’s the Post‘s dating-advice columnist Carolyn Hax, and the online version of that story is headlined, “Listen up, fellas: Naked man-parts? Not so sexy.”
Just sharing that because (a) what you see online may not give you a good idea of how the story is playing out in the actual dead-tree newspaper, and (b) #WINNING!
Which is to say, how many people on Saturday, when this story first broke online, believed it would be front-page news in the Washington Post on Thursday? Like I said, they can’t ignore it. Weiner’s too big for his own good.
However, Jimmie Bise Jr. is disappointed and frustrated:
At this point, I’m actually angry that this story has dragged out for so long and I’m convinced that the only reason it has is because the subject of the story is media darling Democrat Anthony Weiner. If some Republican had sent a crotch picture to a co-ed, the MSM would have his scalp on the wall today. Don’t even think of arguing with me on this. You know it’s true.
Yes, that’s true. But they can’t just brush this off, and it’s not going away. Just enjoy the ride, man.
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