RantCrush Top 5: May 23, 2017

Yesterday, accusations were made that the underage girl in the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal lied about her age in order to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The report, compiled by a site called “WhoWhatWhy” states that the girl is closer to 17 than 15, as she first claimed. This is important because the legal age of consent in North Carolina is 16. According to WhoWhatWhy, the girl also initially claimed that she and her family were Clinton supporters, which turned out to not be the case. Reportedly, she was the one who initiated contact with Weiner, not the other way around.

Given that Weiner was a known repeat sexter and married to a woman who was part of Hillary Clinton’s inner circle during the campaign, the report concludes that it was possible he was the target of a political plot. But others point out that regardless of the girl’s age, Weiner still acted inappropriately, and it’s victim-blaming to attack her motivations. And despite coverage in some mainstream news sources, others have expressed worry about the veracity of WhoWhatWhy’s report. Many have wondered why Weiner would have been allowed to sign a plea deal that contains incorrect information. And a Buzzfeed reporter who covered the story tweeted a thread yesterday questioning the claims altogether.

ok as one of the few reporters who has actually spoken to this girl and her father let me say a couple of things… https://t.co/4qFYXwb7E3

— David Mack (@davidmackau) May 22, 2017

There is a lot wrong with this original report. The author reached out to me last month for help in reporting & I declined.

— David Mack (@davidmackau) May 22, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.