Breaking : The Hill Report: Girl in Weiner sexting case lied to damage Clinton [View all]

[sunonmars]

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/334511-report-girl-in-weiner-sexting-case-lied-to-damage-clinton?rnd=1495456865

The teenage girl who had exchanged inappropriate text messages with former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) lied about her age and political motivations to harm Hillary Clinton, according to a report by WhoWhatWhy.

The girl was not under the age of 15, as the initial reports said, but nearly 17 when she first reached out to Weiner, the report said. She and her family were also not Clinton supporters, as the girl claimed in a letter published by BuzzFeed, according to social media posts unearthed by the website.

“Seeing that Weiner is both a repeat offender — his sexting addiction cost him his job in Congress as well as a shot at becoming mayor of New York — and associated with one of the most important people in Clinton’s inner circle, it is conceivable that this was a set-up from the beginning, with the objective of embarrassing the Clinton campaign,” the report reads.

The Daily Mail initially broke the story in September 2016, which ultimately led the FBI to obtain Weiner’s laptop and discover emails from Clinton’s private server. Weiner is married to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin, who reportedly filed for divorce from Weiner last week.
Former FBI Director James Comey in late October announced the discovery a emails potentially relevant to the bureau’s investigation into Clinton’s server. While Comey several days later said he would not alter his previous recommendation that no charges be brought against Clinton, she has cited Comey’s initial letter to Congress as one for the contributing factors to her loss to Donald Trump.

The report also added that Chuck Johnson, a conservative writer, was one of the individuals who connected the girl to The Daily Mail.

“It’s not yet clear whether the motive was primarily money, a plot to smear Clinton, or both,” the report notes.

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A WhoWhatWhy investigation has uncovered numerous substantive falsehoods and mischaracterizations — raising doubts about a case that changed the 2016 election and American history:

• The girl was presented in news accounts — and Weiner’s plea deal — as being 15 at the time, that is, under the age of consent in her state. She was not.

• Weiner’s victim and her family were not, as represented, Clinton fans — they actually were strong Trump enthusiasts. Her story was trusted in part because she was characterized as having no axe to grind with Clinton or the Democrats.

• Weiner’s “sexting” partner was not simply a victim. Contrary to tabloid accounts, she initiated the contact with Weiner. And she went out of her way to seek advice from a GOP-associated figure behind prior efforts to harm Weiner and other Democrats.

To be clear, what Weiner did was morally indefensible. None of the evidence we provide is meant to excuse his behavior. But it is impossible to overstate the significance of the lies his teen sexting partner told in ensuring the story became a national sensation. The big question that remains is why.