Even before the current #Weinergate scandal broke, Rep. Anthony Weiner had quite a history of lewd behavior towards women.
A 2001 Vanity Fair article about a young woman using her sexual proclivity to climb Capitol Hill featured a large section on her interactions with Weiner. In early fall 2001, the New York Democrat introduced himself to a Congressman Mike Rogers staffer, Diana Davis, as an “auto-parts salesman.” He rambled on and on about how politically connected he was and boasted about a trip he was scheduled to take with President George W. Bush to Ground Zero. He was going to fly with the president on Air Force One. Despite his attempt to impress Davis, Weiner couldn’t seal the deal with her that night, so he tried again.
“The next day, New York’s Anthony Weiner finds the time to hunt down Diana’s E-mail address,” Vanity Fair’s Vicky Ward wrote. “He writes that he hopes they might meet again.”
In his email, Weiner told Davis she should come visit his office “in person.” Ward wrote Davis “left Anthony Weiner dangling,” because she thought the “in person” comment “was kind of cheesy.”
Even after he emailed her, Davis had no clue Weiner was a United States congressman. She thought he was just a cute car parts salesman. It wasn’t until later that her friend Caroline Chatterton told Davis over lunch that Weiner was a member of Congress. Davis could not be reached for comment.
Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin told The Daily Caller Weiner’s “long history” of “skirt-chasing” raises more questions about the New York Democrat’s Capitol Hill sexual secrets and expects more women with similar stories to come forward.
“Stories about his hot pursuits of young Capitol Hill interns date back to 2001,” Malkin said in an email. “At least one young woman told liberal Vanity Fair magazine that Weiner hunted down her e-mail address, bragged about riding on Air Force One, and extended an invitation to visit his office in person. The photo gallery of his select group of young female followers/followees on Twitter suggests a continued hunt.”
Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition expects this emerging pattern to get bigger and clearer soon. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” she told TheDC on Wednesday. “How many other women are going to come forward? Is he the new Tiger Woods?”
Malkin worries about the young female staffers and interns in Weiner’s office and in nearby offices. It’s a possibility they could feel threatened or pressured by Weiner’s advances.
“The latest buzz from D.C. Democrats is that other pictures of Weiner’s package are out there. This raises troubling questions about who the recipients might have been, how old, and whether they worked for or under the congressman (NO pun intended!). The Beltway is packed with young women dazzled by the attention of older men,” Malkin said. “As I observed after my own internship stint nearly two decades ago, some of the most dangerous lechers and creeps are not the drunks wearing rags on the street, but ‘respectable’ men wearing pinstripes and wedding rings who lurk in the halls of power.”
Weiner still can’t answer with “certitude” whether it’s his penis in the picture sent via his official verified Twitter account to Seattle-area college student Gennette Cordova. Since folks in Washington have been asking Weiner about the details surrounding the photo, he’s called a CNN producer a “jackass” and dialed 911 on a CBS reporter. Weiner has tried to deflect attention away from the major questions in the storyline and has tried to say outright he’s not answering any more questions.
He also can’t say for certain what he’s sent in private communications with porn star and stripper Miss Ginger Lee. Cordova told the New York Post Thursday evening that she thinks the picture sent to her from Weiner’s account was meant for Lee. “Her name is Ginger – it makes sense he might have mixed us up,” Cordova said. “I’m just collateral damage.”
Initially, Cordova denied interview requests and sent a statement to the New York Daily News that left many questions unanswered. Now, though, she came forward and did the interview to clear her name.
Lee has also issued a public statement. Lee’s original statement didn’t answer any of the specific questions about the private communication, and she’s denied The Daily Caller’s subsequent requests for comment or clarification. “I haven’t met Rep Weiner. I follow him on twitter because I support him & what he stands for,” Lee said in an email to TheDC on Wednesday morning. “I have been hounded by his political opponents but that hasn’t changed my view of him and what he fights for.”
Weiner said he “thinks” the private Twitter message to Lee in March was a “pro forma thing,” he claims to send to anyone “he follows” and that “that’s probably what she’s referring to.” But, neither will specifically answer with certainty what was in that message or if there has been other communications between them.