Former Congressman and Registered Sex Offender Anthony Weiner Checks in for Prison Sentence

Former Congressman and registered sex offender Anthony Weiner checked in for his 21-month prison sentence Monday, which was handed down after he pleaded guilty to sending lewd messages to a 15-year-old girl.

The media reports of his imprisonment bring full circle the story first exposed in 2011 by the late Andrew Breitbart and dubbed “Weinergate.”

After Weiner impugned Breitbart’s reputation and journalistic integrity by accusing him of hacking his Twitter account, Breitbart famously hijacked a New York City press conference Weiner was giving to address the growing scandal.

Breitbart defended his reporting and challenged the journalists in the room to name a single lie he and his team had told.

The Breitbart reports eventually led to Weiner’s resignation from Congress and his issuing a public apology.

But the depths of Weiner’s perversions proved to be even more salacious than Breitbart’s initial reporting suggested. After the first sexting scandal, his resignation, and widespread public ridicule, it emerged that Weiner had continued sexting with a number of women online, including a 22-year-old Indiana college student named Sydney Leathers.

These new revelations ended any chance of Weiner’s returning to politics as mayor of New York City in 2013 but did not stop his sexual misconduct, as yet another sexting scandal proved. Photos he sent women eventually came to include his young son.

And as Breitbart Senior Editor at Large Joel Pollak pointed out recently, Weiner’s connection to Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign is noteworthy:

Clinton publicly blames FBI director James Comey, and no doubt privately blames Weiner as well. But they were her emails, full of classified information, which she had no business hiding on an unsecured server, or sending to aides like Weiner’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Huma Abedin.

Weiner’s time behind bars, however, may not be as brutal as prison sentences imply, according to the Daily Mail:

[Devens Federal Medical Center in Massachusetts] boasts tree-lined manicured lawns, dorm-like housing, sports fields and a recreation center. It also offers a number of leisure activities, including Weiner’s favorite sport – hockey – as well as a hobby craft shop, a music practice room, and cooking classes.

Weiner won’t be the only ex-politician at the facility. Former Massachusetts State Rep. John George, Jr, is currently serving out a 70-month sentence at Devens, after he pleaded guilty in 2015 to embezzling federal funds.

Weiner may also recognize a friendly face in Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire founder of Galleon Group, who was sentenced to 11 years for a $60 million insider trading scheme in 2009.

Pollak also pointed out in his commentary that Andrew Breitbart’s ongoing legend at Breitbart News is about more than one man’s sad demise:

Some observers claimed that the late Andrew Breitbart would have been happy with Weiner’s sentence. But Andrew did not need more vindication — not after defying the mainstream media’s attempts to quash the story, not after taking over Weiner’s press conference in June 2011, not after Weiner’s behavior led indirectly to Hillary Clinton’s defeat.

The issue, for Andrew, was never personal.

And Breitbart’s mission continues:

Note how rarely Andrew Breitbart’s role in this is mentioned in media reports, in Hollywood adaptations of the story, or even the eponymous Weiner documentary.

That is because Andrew always aimed beyond Weiner and at the media. They are still doing today what they did then: protecting Democrats and targeting conservatives. Weiner’s fate does not change that.