Anthony Weiner Could Face Child Pornography Charges
Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 1, 2017
Former congressman Anthony Weiner could face federal child pornography charges, according to a report Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal.
One charge currently on the table, production of child pornography, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.
The onetime mayoral candidate, now known for sending explicit images of himself to women he met online, has been under investigation since a Daily Mail report last year that he had engaged in explicit online exchange with a 15-year-old girl.
That investigation disrupted the presidential race in its final weeks, when FBI director James Comey told members of Congress that in the course of the Weiner investigation, the FBI had discovered emails belonging to Weiner’s wife, Hillary Clinton consigliere Huma Abedin. In his letter, Comey said the letters could reopen the then-closed investigation into Clinton’s email server. Days later, Comey announced that the emails investigation was being closed again.
Comey’s letters are now the subject of their own internal justice department investigation.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Weiner’s attorneys have met with federal prosecutors in recent days.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
