Posted on 09/14/2017 9:06:29 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
Former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner asked for leniency Wednesday in sentencing for his exchange of sexually explicit online messages with a 15-year-old girl, regretting he helped torpedo his wife Huma Abedin's career.
In documents filed with a Manhattan federal court, Weiner's lawyers asked for probation mandating treatment and community service, portraying their client as an attention-driven "weak man" in a "self-destructive spiral" with a "sickness."
The New York Times reports:
The teenage girl first contacted Mr. Weiner on Jan. 23, 2016, and he "responded as a weak man, at the bottom of a self-destructive spiral, and with an addicts self-serving delusion that the communications were all just internet fantasy willfully ignoring that there was a young person at the other end of the connection, hundreds of miles away, who could be damaged by these exchanges through the ether," his lawyers wrote.
The teenager was looking for material for a book, which she has now written and is "shopping to publishers," the memo says.
She also told investigators that she hoped "somehow to influence the U.S. presidential election, in addition to securing personal profit," the memo says.
But the lawyers assert that her efforts to induce Mr. Weiner "to behave badly" did not excuse his behavior, nor justify it.
His lawyers have stated Weiner is undergoing treatment for his sex addiction and a series of tests showed he has a "mixed personality disorder" stemming from childhood trauma. A prison sentence, they said, would bring his recovery to a halt.
Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 21 to 27 months for a charge that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. Weiner will be sentenced Sept. 25.
Weiner, in his own five-page letter to the court, lamented he had "crushed the aspirations" of his estranged wife, a top aide to 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"My continued acting out over years crushed the aspirations of my wife and ruined our marriage," Weiner wrote. "I am so deeply sorry for the harm I have done to her, and I live with the sorrow that I will never be able to fix that."
He added, "My life isnt big and loud anymore. Every day I quietly do what I can to keep getting better, and to fix the damage Ive done."
Abedin and Weiner are in the midst of getting a divorce. They appeared together in divorce court on Wednesday.
In her own letter to the judge asking for him to be spared a prison sentence, Abedin described herself as "devastated" by his behavior.
"With Anthony," she wrote, "I have repeatedly found myself in circumstances I never imagined. I am devastated by Anthonys actions, and I understand he must face their consequences."
Weiner pleaded guilty in May to a charge of transferring obscene material to a minor, ending a bizarre saga that negatively impacted his wife's boss.
Clinton is in the midst of promoting her 2016 election memoir, What Happened, and she has raged against then-FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress last October announcing new developments in her private email server investigation.
During an investigation into Weiner's sexting with the underage girl, Comey testified later, the FBI discovered thousands of Clinton emails on Weiner's computer that were forwarded there by Abedin.
The original story on Weiner's relationship with the young girl was broken by Daily Mail reporter Alana Goodman, formerly of the Washington Free Beacon.
Clinton has called Comey's letter the reason she lost the election.
"Look, absent that, and I believe the evidence shows, I would have won," Clinton said on Wednesday.
The guilty plea marks the final fall from grace of Weiner, who resigned from Congressafter more than a decade serving New York's 9th districtin 2011 after revelations that he had sexted with numerous women.
He attempted a career comeback in 2013 when he ran for New York City mayor, but that bid collapsed after it came to light that his sexting behavior continued.
A muslim brotherhood plant in the US?
Special treatment for the elite!!! We demand it!
Her career as White House Chief of Staff was ruined by SHrillary’s loss, which Weiner boy helped torpedo with his laptop was discovered having classified emails, causing Comey to give his ‘reopen, then re-close’ press conferences.
“I’m a Democrat, it’s OK.”
So weiners excuse is that he has some personality disorder stemming from childhood?? Couldn’t any criminal make the same excuse??
Democrats very seldom go to jail..
It is NYC
Boo hoo.
A sociopath like Weiner will say anything if he thinks it will get him what he wants.
Plus, I don’t care about his evil wife, either.
>>She also told investigators that she hoped “somehow to influence the U.S. presidential election, in addition to securing personal profit,” the memo says.
“Rushins” put her up to it, no doubt.
And they put Hitlery’s emails on Weiner’s computer.
You said it before I could! Fine!!!!
NOPE!!
My personal take is that a reasonable sentence would be time served - and castration.
>>The original story on Weiner’s relationship with the young girl was broken by Daily Mail reporter
Because the US media is Democrat run and wouldn’t break such news.
Hillary has been bitching about Comey and the FBI letter to Congress just days before the election. But Hillary has had nothing to say about Weiner, nothing to say about the fact that they resumed investigation because emails were found on Weiners computer, and Huma supposedly was involved with that. Hillary sure has selective outrage.
Asking for mercy because he hurt someone else? WTF? Should serial killers who kill more people get shorter sentences because of all the lives they derailed?
>>Clinton has called Comey’s letter the reason she lost the election. “Look, absent that, and I believe the evidence shows, I would have won,” Clinton said on Wednesday.
Recall that in 2000 there was an election eve release of GW Bush’s decades old DWI arrest. It cost him a measurable amount of votes and Gore’s “victory” was only 0.51% margin of the popular vote. That election eve October Surprise cost Bush the so-called Popular Vote.
Hitlery really shouldn’t bring up such analogies.
He wants leniency because he harmed his wife. Strange - perverted - logic.
BTW, Huma’s career was derailed by Huma and her lesbian lover because they engaged in illegal and potentially treasonous activities which should have sent both of them to jail as well.
This is analogous to a rapist saying he shouldn’t serve jail time because his family was devastated he raped somebody. Gee, it’s unfortunate that your poor choices had adverse consequences for your family. But, that doesn’t mean we should mitigate the sentence.
What a sleeze. Blaming the 15 year old.
Only a Lie-beral could commit a sex crime, then plead for leniency because it hurt their partner’s ambitions.
Hell, I know ordinary people who got 10 years for much less than Weener did. But since they weren’t part of the Elite Class, they were forced to face a proper punishment! I’d bet he gets off with a suspended sentence and no need to register as a sex offender.
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