The Other McCain

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Who Tipped BuzzFeed About Weiner’s Cyber-Girlfriend Sydney Leathers?

Posted on | July 24, 2013 | 116 Comments

My friend Donald Douglas this morning was rather shocked at how quickly I jumped onto the Sydney Leathers story, but I explained on Twitter what I said on the blog Tuesday night: Before I ever heard of Sydney Leathers, the BuzzFeed article was already a banner headline at Drudge, so there wasn’t really anything left to debate. Certainly I wasn’t “outing” her. Ezra Dulis at Big Journalism was all “[redacted] this” and “[redacted] that,” as if ignoring the news could make it less newsworthy, but the news business just doesn’t work that way.

What I added to the story — on the basis of tips from a keen-eyed Twitter buddy — was that (a) Sydney Leathers is a former Obama campaign worker and (b) Sydney Leathers authored a 2011 petition that condemned Sarah Palin for “inciting violence.” That’s news.

If anyone wants to criticize BuzzFeed, they ought to ask: Where did they get the ID of Sydney Leathers? Was this just  a case of clever “investigative journalism” or was it — as I strongly suspect — the result of a tip from a source allied with Team Weiner?

This is not to say, however, that BuzzFeed should not have run with the story once they got that tip. Once you know somebody is shopping around that kind of info, you’re confronted with a kind of devil’s dilemma: “If I don’t take this scoop, somebody else will.”

Such dilemmas occur all the time in political reporting, where people with obvious motives offer you oppo-research materials.

Do you really want to turn up your nose at the offered dossier, knowing that if you do, you’ll probably find it reported in all its tawdry glory somewhere else? Remember that in 2008, there were reporters for major news organizations who knew about the reports of John Edwards’ extramarital affair, but wrongly dismissed them as “tabloid gossip.”

I’ve got a particular interest in the question of who ID’d Sydney Leathers because, for months, Ladd Ehlinger Jr. has entertained the possibility that the harassment of Brett Kimberlin’s enemies was somehow being funded by supporters of Anthony Weiner.

Speculation isn’t my business, but when you observe extraordinary behavior, you can’t preemptively rule out extraordinary motives.

One of the bloggers who did the most damage to Anthony Weiner during the 2011 scandal was Patterico who — just coincidentally, FYI — was also a target of relentless harassment by the obscure alliance of forces that we call Team Kimberlin. Today, Patterico returns to the saga with a devastating timeline of how Weiner’s enablers made this latest scandal possible, and don’t miss this:

And, disturbingly for a guy who was talking about “cape and tights” to a high school girl in Delaware — a grooming line he had used with an adult woman with whom he had sexted — Weiner asks Sydney Leathers if her “pussy” is “smooth” . . .

Oh, my goodness. That seems rather weird, eh?

And while the New York Times sees a pattern, they apparently can’t be bothered to notice that pattern.

Do we know anyone else reputed to have a similar interest in young girls? Seems to ring a bell for some reason . . .

UPDATE: Linked at American Power — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers! Since this involves a mass readership who may be unfamiliar with the background to which I’ve alluded, let me briefly rehash what regular readers of this blog already know:

The seeming convergence of (a) Brett Kimberlin’s Enemies List and (b) a number of bloggers — including Ace of Spades and Lee Stranahan — who had written about WeinerGate could be explained as entirely coincidental. But there were reports that Team Weiner, in planning his political comeback effort, had engaged the services of various lawyers, researchers and consultants. Those of us who know how politics works behind the scenes are well aware that money is fungible: If Politician W hires Consulting Firm X for $20,000, this firm may then hire Freelance Researcher Y for $5,000 and Internet Operative Z for $3,000 on a basis of confidentiality, so that the activities of Y and Z cannot be traced to X, and Politician W then has clean hands (and plausible deniability) if Y and Z get caught red-handed.

Also: Progressives into young girls? Probably just a coincidence.

 


Category: Anthony Weiner, Ladd Ehlinger, Patterico, Scandal, Sex

Comments

116 Responses to “Who Tipped BuzzFeed About Weiner’s Cyber-Girlfriend Sydney Leathers?”

  1. FilmLadd
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:06 pm

    Who did #CarlosDanger hire to do damage control? RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/XANPjkiWzK

  2. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:08 pm

    RT @FilmLadd: Who did #CarlosDanger hire to do damage control? RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/XANPjkiWzK

  3. OwainPenllyn
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:08 pm

    #BrettKimberlin Connection – Weiner’s Cyber-Girlfriend Sydney Leathers? http://t.co/boCAYAXo1H #tcot #tgdn #teaparty #p2

  4. katidid7
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:08 pm

    RT @FilmLadd: Who did #CarlosDanger hire to do damage control? RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/XANPjkiWzK

  5. I_ONian
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:09 pm

    RT @FilmLadd: Who did #CarlosDanger hire to do damage control? RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/XANPjkiWzK

  6. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:09 pm

    I’m kind of sure @DaveWeigel doesn’t want to ask any questions about these RANDOM COINCIDENCES http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq @Patterico @FilmLadd

  7. Darth Odie
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

    http://whois.domaintools.com/boycottrush.org

  8. vermontaigne
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:11 pm

    RT @FilmLadd: Who did #CarlosDanger hire to do damage control? RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/XANPjkiWzK

  9. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

    Are ALL 48-year-old Democrats into girls less than half their age with “smooth” genitals? http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq Asking for a friend …

  10. instapundit
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

    RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq @FilmLadd @AceofSpadesHQ @Patterico @Stranahan @Liberty_Chick…

  11. Darth Odie
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    Now how made up stories about climate denier congresswomen from obscure blogs(liberalcoughkurchokemudsnotrtgeonhack) become MSM and OFA news.

  12. Instapundit » Blog Archive » GOOD QUESTION: Who Tipped BuzzFeed About Weiner’s Cyber-Girlfriend Sydney Leathers?…
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    […] GOOD QUESTION: Who Tipped BuzzFeed About Weiner’s Cyber-Girlfriend Sydney Leathers? […]

  13. AmPowerBlog
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Not like there’s anything CREEPY about this, eh? http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq @LauraRosenCohen @SmallgGay @ali @AmPowerBlog

  14. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:16 pm

    Hope and Change … and Also, Young Girls With ‘Smooth’ Genitals http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq #CarlosDanger #p2 #WarOnWomen

  15. HarrietBaldwin
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:17 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Hope and Change … and Also, Young Girls With ‘Smooth’ Genitals http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq #CarlosDanger #p2 #WarOnWomen

  16. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm

    For you literary types: Anthony Weiner = Huma Abedin; Humbert Humbert = Charlotte Haze. http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq NOTHING TO SEE HERE

  17. WildBill0283
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:26 pm

    I feel sorry for his wife. It’s bad enough having to be a sex toy for Hillary, now she has to be embarrassed again.

  18. Gr8LakesCzarina
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:26 pm

    RT @rsmccain: I’m kind of sure @DaveWeigel doesn’t want to ask any questions about these RANDOM COINCIDENCES http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq @Patter…

  19. Kerrvillian
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:29 pm

    RT @rsmccain: For you literary types: Anthony Weiner = Huma Abedin; Humbert Humbert = Charlotte Haze. http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq NOTHING TO SEE…

  20. DixT
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:32 pm

    Does anyone think Elliott Spitzer had anything to do with outing this female???

  21. Mm
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:33 pm

    I don’t feel sorry for her at all. She is a pure political wife: she will put up with anything for power, just like Hillary, Mrs. Elliot Spitzer, Mrs. John Edwards, etc., etc. Her family is very well connected within the Muslim Brotherhood – she grew up with politics, so she knew full well what she was getting into. Like the other wives I mentioned, she has been out there spinning a yarn to voters – lying to them – in an attempt to rehabilitate her reprehensible spouse because SHE wants to be in a position of power. Question: working for the state department, her husband unemployed, how do they afford a $14,000 a month condo?

  22. ajpwriter
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:36 pm

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    Oh, Wiener. Oh, Wiener. Oh. Wiener.

  23. Alice Enland
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:42 pm

    I love it when things like this come out. Anything to push the public to realizing what a cess pool of humans our political class has become.

  24. There’s Stupid, and Then There’s Anthony Wiener… | Andrew J. Patrick
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:43 pm

    […] So why can’t I stop laughing? […]

  25. notoserfdom
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:43 pm

    Weiner’s heading for pedophilia territory at high speed. This is an illness; he can’t stop just because he got caught http://t.co/1bcOgJb3gL

  26. Josh_Painter
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:47 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Are ALL 48-year-old Democrats into girls less than half their age with “smooth” genitals? http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq Asking for a…

  27. Mm
    July 24th, 2013 @ 1:54 pm

    On the front cover of the NY Post today:
    “Brain study debunks sex addiction, suggests that it’s ‘not a real disorder'”
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/brain_study_debunks_sex_addiction_ZvlGhUR8MkUPPCUfQSzNzM

  28. EileenHart1
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:05 pm

    RT @rsmccain: For you literary types: Anthony Weiner = Huma Abedin; Humbert Humbert = Charlotte Haze. http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq NOTHING TO SEE…

  29. RS
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:15 pm

    The truly sad thing is, that people have sold their souls to a belief system which will allow them to vote for this pervert, because “he says the right things.” Most Americans would be divorced, sued into oblivion, humiliated and/or in jail for these sorts of behaviors. Yet those same people ignore the absence of character or morality for “their guy.” I truly weep for what this nation has become.

  30. Liberty_Chick
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:28 pm

    RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq @FilmLadd @AceofSpadesHQ @Patterico @Stranahan @Liberty_Chick…

  31. Finrod Felagund
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:29 pm

    Offtopic: William and Kate’s son has been named George, thus infuriating liberal haters of George Zimmerman and George Bush.

  32. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:41 pm

    Thanks for RT, @Liberty_Chick! Hope @AceofSpadesHQ @Patterico @Stranahan and @AaronWorthing will check the UPDATE. http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq

  33. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:43 pm

    UPDATE: Neal Rauhauser became obsessed with the 2011 WeinerGate scandal and the blogger Patterico http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq

  34. RS
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:44 pm

    Damn. I had “Pavel” in the Office Pool.

  35. joethefatman1
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:44 pm

    Who Tipped BuzzFeed About Weiner’s Cyber-Girlfriend Sydney Leathers? http://t.co/doOP8K3EVS

  36. SmallgGay
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:48 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Not like there’s anything CREEPY about this, eh? http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq @LauraRosenCohen @SmallgGay @ali @AmPowerBlog

  37. ali
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:49 pm

    RT @rsmccain: UPDATE: Neal Rauhauser became obsessed with the 2011 WeinerGate scandal and the blogger Patterico http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq

  38. EarlScruggs
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:52 pm

    Wouldn’t it be even more newsworthy if it was the Muslim Brotherhood behind it all? Yeah, I know, Weiner is Jewish, but what better mole? And it would explain a whole lot of what all went on. Kimberlin is after Walker because of drawing Mohammed. And JTMP is all about outreach to Muslim music groups. I mean, it isn’t like it would be totally unheard of for our enemies to be fund activists in this country.

    Inquiring minds and all that.

    Remember what happened to Michele Bachmann when she dared to raise the MB connection with Huma? She got savaged by everyone.

    It’s like a Ludlum novel.

  39. mrgeology
    July 24th, 2013 @ 2:57 pm

    RT @rsmccain: UPDATE: Neal Rauhauser became obsessed with the 2011 WeinerGate scandal and the blogger Patterico http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq

  40. rsmccain
    July 24th, 2013 @ 3:02 pm

    Also, is @AmandaMarcotte OK with 48-year-old progressive men who are into young girls with “smooth” vaginas? http://t.co/tdnh26ypdq #p2

  41. jay_dubya
    July 24th, 2013 @ 3:26 pm

    A must read – Kimberlin and Wiener RT @rsmccain: PROBABLY JUST ANOTHER RANDOM COINCIDENCE http://t.co/zex4XB3nFN

  42. n0t th3 j35t3r
    July 24th, 2013 @ 3:34 pm

    Why would Weiner spill the dirt on himself, especially this kind of detailed dirt? Think it must have been a Weiner opponent (Albanese, de Blasio, or Quinn) who had more to gain by humiliating Weiner. For the next absurd act in this theatre of the absurd, expect outing of a closet relationship between Weiner and Trayvon that broke off badly the night of Trayvon’s unsuccessful hate crime gay bashing. Bad New York Theatre

  43. kshaidle
    July 24th, 2013 @ 3:36 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Also, is @AmandaMarcotte OK with 48-year-old progressive men who are into young girls with “smooth” vaginas? http://t.co/tdnh…

  44. K-Bob
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm

    Is his middle name “Mohammed”?

  45. K-Bob
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:19 pm

    With pedophiles now publicly chiming in with “hey, we’re just like the gays, so don’t we have rights?” nonsense, this Wiener business just makes the perfect backdrop for America Burning.

    Let’s just all admit it: we know it’s going to probably end up in war, since there appears to be no politcal solution.

    I hope Levin’s new book sparks something, but at the same time, I’m preparing to have to live in a wartime environment. Hoard that tinfoil!

  46. JeffS
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:29 pm

    Huma is a long time assistant and associate of Hillary Clinton, the mistress of going to the mat for her husband in all things political. Huma is well aware of what she is doing, waste not your pity or sympathy.

  47. Mm
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:29 pm

    Another thing that is irking me – this long-suffering woman shtick. Folks, Weiner and Abedin have been married for the incredible length of *three years.” Three years, that’s it. They married in July 2010, and within months (if not before), he was tweeting pics of his privates and having cyber sex with various women, including a high-schooler (the only one of these women who has my sympathy because she was a minor and was entitled to be stupid).

    Does his wife have no self respect? Not if it gets in the way of political power. This guy is incorrigible, and marriage, pregnancy, and a child have not crimped his “style.” Do these other women have any self-respect or the common decency not to engage a married man with a new baby? Clearly not.

    This whole thing smacks of a political arranged marriage.

  48. K-Bob
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:31 pm

    No, wait! Evidently Ace has discovered the origins of the new Prince’s name:

    Seinfeld

  49. JeffS
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:33 pm

    Remember that Billary and Huma are long time associates. In those rarefied circles, “self respect” is viewed with contempt.

  50. nosycophant
    July 24th, 2013 @ 4:36 pm

    She’s not embarrassed she is just worried about her own agenda.