REVEALED: The Obama election campaigner, 23, who ‘received illicit messages and had phone sex with Anthony Weiner‘ a year after humiliated wife forgave him

Sydney Leathers, a liberal activist from Illinois, is allegedly the woman who revealed explicit images she received from Weiner
Relationship allegedly began in July 2012 and continued until November 2012 – but woman said they most recently spoke this April
Consisted of frequent online conversations and daily ‘phone sex’ calls over the course of six months
Miss Leathers is a blogger for the Indiana Progressive Liberals and was a field organizer for Obama’s re-election campaign
She once named NY mayoral hopeful Weiner as a political hero online
Weiner admitted that he was the man in the messages on Tuesday
His wife Huma Abedin stood by him and said she had ‘forgiven him’

By David Martosko In Washington, Meghan Keneally, Louise Boyle and Hayley Peterson PUBLISHED: 24 July 2013

A 23-year-old political activist was last night revealed as the woman allegedly at the center of Anthony Weiner’s latest sexting scandal – which took place a year after he resigned from office in disgrace.

The woman, identified byBuzzfeed as ‘Sydney Leathers’, was named just hours after she is believed to have released copies of explicit conversations with the disgraced ex-Congressman and pictures of his genitals that she claims he sent her.

Sydney Elaine Leathers is a 23-year-old blogger for the Indiana Progressive Liberals and was a field organizer for Obama’s re-election campaign. She once named Weiner as a political hero online.

Anthony Weiner and wife Huma Abedin made a joint appearance earlier on Tuesday saying that the latest revelations of extra-marital sexual exchanges will not cause him to drop out of the race for New York City Mayor.

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Revealed: The woman, who goes by the name ‘Sydney Leathers’ online, is a 22-year-old who describes herself as a progressive liberal

Public profile: The 23-year-old blogger has strong views when it comes to hot political issues… including Anthony Weiner

Standing united: Anthony Weiner had his wife Huma Abedin at his side when he addressed the new revelations of another sexually inappropriate relationship that took place a year after he resigned

It is unclear whether Huma was aware that her husband had been allegedly sending explicit pictures to Leathers.

Following the scandal, Weiner later carried on with his mayoral campaign, making a stop at a Gay Men’s Health Crisis Mayoral Forum on HIV/AIDS in the city.

A ‘POLITICAL NEWS JUNKIE’ AND ‘ANIMAL LOVER EXTRAORDINAIRE’: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SYDNEY

Sydney Elaine Leathers, 23, is a progressive liberal blogger from Illinois who worked as a field organizer for Obama’s presidential campaign. According to her Twitter account, she also volunteered for Elizabeth Warren’s 2012 senatorial campaign.

It appears she is an admirer of Anthony Weiner, as he’s listed third on a list of ‘heroes’ that she posted on her website, after President Obama in first place and Bill Maher in second.

Her other heroes include Bernie Sanders, Julian Assange, Keith Olbermann, Alan Grayson, Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart and Charlie Sheen.

On her ‘about me’ section on an old personal website, she features Weiner alongside quotations from Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.

In June 2011, she posted on her Facebook page that Weiner’s political record meant he could ‘continue sending d*** pics every single day for the rest of his life.’ Two months earlier, she posted a video of Weiner with the caption ‘Hero.’

Under her interests, Leathers lists ‘Politics. Gossip. Life.’ On Instagram, she calls herself a ‘Writer, Artist. Political Blogger/Political Satirist/Political News Junkie. Animal Lover Extraordinaire.’

She has more than 2,000 followers on Facebook, where she blasts conservative positions on a whole range of issues, from abortion to LGBT rights and immigration.

‘Listening to Ann Coulter try to disprove evolution is like listening to a stripper prove she had a loving relationship with her father,’ she posted in August 2011.

When Michele Bachmann announced she wouldn’t be running for re-election in 2014, Leathers posted: ‘Who will we make fun of now?! Oh yeah, the rest of the right wing nut-jobs in Congress.’

She graduated from Mt Carmel High School in Mt. Carmel, Illinois in 2008.

Buzzfeed identified the 23-year-old, who now lives in Indiana, on Tuesday as the woman who allegedly exchanged dirty messages with Weiner – who adopted the alias ‘Carlos Danger’ online.

Leathers, who also goes by ‘sidneyelainexo’ online. The website thedirty.com first revealed Weiner’s latest texting relationship, reporting that the former congressman talked to a woman on social networking site Formspring.

A link to that account shows that it has been suspended.

The 23-year-old has strong political opinions which she broadcasts widely across social media including her Facebook page.

Among these include the statement that Weiner ‘did not do anything worthy of resignation’ and ‘Rep Weiner can continue sending d*** pics every single day for the rest of his life as long as he continues to legislate like he does. I decided.’

On a list of her politic heroes posted on her blog, Miss Leathers ranks Anthony Weiner at number three behind President Obama and Bill Maher.

However he does feature ahead of Bernie Sanders, Julian Assange, Keith Olbermann, Alan Grayson, Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart and Charlie Sheen on the 23-year-old’s list of heroes.

A phone number linked to Miss Leathers was disconnected.

On Tuesday, Huma joined her husband to make a rare public statement standing by her man just hours after the latest embarrassment came to light.

‘It took a lot of work and whole lot of therapy to get to a place where I could forgive Anthony,’ a tearful and clearly nervous Huma said.

‘It was not an easy choice in any way but I made the decision that it was worth staying in this marriage.’

Weiner did not deny claims that he had a six-month virtual relationship with a woman which began in July 2012, more than a year after he resigned from office amid his first Twitter sexting scandal.

Adding insult to his wife’s injury, Weiner appeared in a full family photo-shoot in People Magazine published on July 18, 2012.

Just one week earlier is when Weiner allegedly began his latest tawdry online sex affair.

‘I’m very happy in my present life,’ Weiner told People in the July 18 profile.

Carry on regardless: New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner speaks during the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Mayoral Forum on HIV/AIDS in New York on Tuesday following another sexting scandal

Relaxed: Anthony Weiner smiles as he attends a campaign trail stop on Tuesday following fresh revelations that he sexted with a 23-year-old girl

Hours after the deeply embarrassing revelations were published on Tuesday, Weiner owned up to parts of the claims even though he has spent months campaigning for mayor of New York City by saying that he has reformed, asking for a chance at redemption.

A screenshot of her lengthy conversations with that user showed more than 35 exchanges that were extremely sexual in nature, and there are only a handful that are appropriate for publication on a widely-read news site.

Avid blogger: Leathers’ allegedly exchanged explicit messages with Weiner – some which were unfit to print

Fan: Leathers, a 22-year-old member of the Indiana Progressive Liberals and avid blogger, named Weiner as one of her ‘political heroes’

Political connection: Sydney worked as a field organizer for Obama’s re-election campaign and is a passionate progressive liberal

Rare: Abedin, a long time aide to Hillary Clinton, hardly ever makes public appearances and this was her first time speaking at a press conference

Huma forgives Weiner AGAIN after more sexting revelations

Many of the messages are descriptions of his sexual fantasies, such as: ‘So I walk in to a hotel room and you are at the end of the bed. naked except for some amazing f*** me shoes. your legs are ******. your feet are flat on the ground you are leaning slightly forward. looking completely in charge.’

‘I like to whisper in your ear while I make love to you. That ok?’ he wrote.

‘Taking a shower. Wanna join me?’

‘Staring at pics of u. Pathetic?’

‘If I met you in a bar and tried to talk to you, would I have a chance?’

‘You are a walking fantasy.’

Family man: Anthony Weiner poses with his wife Huma and son in this People magazine spread – which was published a week after he allegedly began he tawdry online affair

Another storm brewing: Anthony Weiner, seen here with his wife Huma and their son Jordan in May, resigned from office in 2011 but a new woman has come forward saying he maintained a virtual relationship with her in 2012

Explicit: The unidentified woman released screenshots of her conversations with a man she claims was Anthony Weiner, though he used the screenname ‘Carlos Danger’ or Dangr33. The text in grey boxes was reportedly written by Weiner

Weiner apologizes for sexting AFTER his resignation

TIMELINE OF THE TEXTS

May 27, 2011: Anthony Weiner accidentally sent a picture of his genitals to all of his Twitter followers, when he meant to send it to a young woman via direct message

June 16, 2011: Weiner resigned from Congress after initially denying the sexts

July 12, 2012: Made first contact with unidentified woman who released their conversations and pictures today

August 2012: He had suggested that he secure a condo in Chicago for them to meet in person

November 2012: Their relationship fizzled

April 10, 2013: The New York Times publishes an article profiling the ‘Post Scandal Playbook’

Days later in April 2013: He reactivated his Facebook and asked the woman what she thought about The Times article

May 22, 2013: Announces he is running for mayor of New York City

At one point that man writes ‘I am deeply flawed’.

What is so damaging to Weiner is that these new sex chats took place on a social networking site called Formspring between July and November 2012, more than a year after he resigned from Congress.

That was a time when he was supposed to be working on his marriage to Ms Abedin, who has worked for years as Hillary Clinton’s top aide.

‘I said that other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have,’ he said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

‘While some things that have been posted today are true and some are not, there is no question that what I did was wrong.

‘This behavior is behind me. I’ve apologized to Huma and am grateful that she has worked through these issues with me and for her forgiveness.

Weiner and the woman allegedly first made contact on July 12, 2012, and carried on for month.

She claims that he mentioned the prospect of securing a condo in Chicago or New York so that they could be closer, according to Buzzfeed.

The steamy conversations and explicit picture exchanges began to peter out in November, and they spoke only once in December.

The woman told The Dirty that the last time she spoke to him was when he reactivated his Facebook account to ask her what she thought of a lengthy New York Times profile published in April of this year that detailed his relationship with Abedin and his prospects of launching a campaign to become New York City’s next mayor.

The conversations: Gossip website The Dirty posted screengrabs of the conversations between an unidentified woman an Weiner, this one showing him asking her to delete all of their records in exchange for a position on a blogging panel

Photos: The Dirty released two pictures that the unidentified woman claimed Weiner sent her of his genitals

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Sharing secret lives: The woman said that her intense chats with Weiner took place between July and November 2012 but that was not the last time she heard from him

She shared screenshots of their conversations with gossip site, The Dirty, which published lengthy exchanges between the two where they talked about their sexual fantasies.

In the exchanges, a man, believed to be Weiner, talked to the woman under the name Carlos Danger or Dangr33.

The woman said that the bulk of their relationship took place between July 2012 and that November of that year, but that was not the end.

The last time she heard from him was after he and his wife Huma were featured in a lengthy New York Times profile about his effort to rehabilitate his public image.

This exclusive release of explicit photos and conversations by The Dirty comes two weeks after they lost a $300,000 libel judgment to a former Bengals cheerleader.

Buzzfeed names the publisher of The Dirty as Nik Ritchie, who writes that the unidentified woman has hired a lawyer ‘in fear of Anthony Weiner but she is willing to expose his sexual nature to TheDirty.com for the betterment of America’.

Enlarge

Explicit: She said that while she was an adult and 22-years-old when the exchanges happened, she was irresponsible and should have known better

Same problem: The new spate of conversations have not been verified to be Weiner, but he has said that there were other virtual relationships that were bound to come forward

Other women: At the time of his resignation, Meagan Broussard (left), Gennette Cordova (center) and Lisa Weiss (right) all released proof of virtual relationships with Weiner

‘My source is solid. She really thought Anthony Weiner and her were in love, they spoke on the phone daily multiple times a day for 6 months.

‘Anthony Weiner played with her emotions and mind. Most calls were phone sex,’ Ritchie wrote.

While remaining anonymous, the woman released a statement to The Dirty justifying her release of the conversations.

‘Although I was 22 and technically an adult, I was obviously immature and I acted irresponsibly. I realize my correspondence with Mr Anthony Weiner was a huge mistake and I am embarrassed by it.

‘But the facts are the facts, and he’s running for mayor of NYC so I felt I should get my story out there,’ she wrote.

Mr Ritchie writes that the woman claims Weiner has ‘a shoe fetish, particularly heels’.

There is another conversation posted on The Dirty– that the woman claims is with the same man- where he ditches the Carlos Danger username and logs on as Anthony Weiner.

Different time: This picture proved the veracity of a different virtual relationship, and though the new chats do not have a similar ‘smoking gun’ there are some similarities between the conversations

Last time around: One clue that these new conversations may be the real thing are his mentions of his two cats, which he pictured in one of the earlier verification photos he sent to a different woman

In that conversation, the person claiming to be Weiner asks the woman to ‘do me a solid’ and ‘hard delete all our chats here’ in exchange for him putting her in touch with a friend at Politico who was looking to fill a panel of bloggers.

The woman told The Dirty that he allegedly promised her a condo in Chicago where they could meet for a tryst in real life instead of their virtual sessions.

The shot: A picture of his clothed genitals brought Weiner down last time

Even before Weiner admitted that at least portions of the revelations were true, there were earlier hints that suggest this can be added to his list of online relationships.

The blank avatar associated with the user who identified as Anthony Weiner is the same one that was used by the disgraced Congressman when he interacted with one of his confirmed cohorts in 2011, blackjack dealer Lisa Weiss.

In Carlos Dangers’ conversations posted on The Dirty, the man mentions that he has two cats. Mr Weiner both mentioned and pictured his two cats in his earlier online interactions, though there is no way of verifying that they are the same cats in question.

There is also Mr Weiner’s earlier warnings that the explicit relationships that the public knew about when he resigned were not the only ones he engaged in, saying that there were likely more to come.

‘Basically, New Yorkers know the story. I did it. I did it with multiple people,’ he told NBC when he was gearing up for his mayoral campaign in April.

‘I love him. I have forgiven him. I believe in him’: Huma Abedin read a statement at the Tuesday press conference reaffirming her belief in her husband and their marriage

Facing the press: Weiner said that he would not confirm or deny the particulars of the claims made by the woman, or any future claims made by any other women who come forward

He did not go into the specific timeline of his relationship with the unidentified woman, though it was pointed out that if the woman’s claims are correct, he posed for a family portrait alongside his wife Huma and their son Jordan just days after starting up a virtual relationship with the woman.

‘When we faced this publicly two years ago it was the beginning of a time in our marriage that was very difficult and it took us a very long time to get through it,’ Ms Abedin said at today’s press conference.

‘Anthony’s made some horrible mistakes both before he resigned from congress and after but I do very strongly believe that that is between us.

‘I love him. I have forgiven him. I believe in him.’

For his part, Weiner said that his wife was aware that he was still making contact with women he had never met even after he resigned, and he said that his June 2011 departure from Congress was not the end to his inappropriate behavior.

‘She knew all along this process as I was more and more honest with her, I told her everything so this is something we knew going into this season of (campaigning).

Under scrutiny: Weiner said that his wife was fully aware of his extra-curricular behavior when they decided that it was a good idea for him to run for Mayor

‘I’m pleased and blessed that she has given me a second chance. For the past several months I have asked New Yorkers to give me a second chance.

‘Its in our rear view mirror but it’s not far and we continue to work on our marriage. Frankly we’re in a lot better place today or else I would not have run for mayor.’

A number of his fellow mayoral candidates leaped at the chance to call for Weiner to drop out of the race, but the 48-year-old said that was not an option.

‘I’m sure many of my opponents would like me to drop out of the race,’ he said at the press conference, which was held just minutes before a mayoral debate.

‘To some degree this is something we had in front of us,’ he said, referring to the fact that he was well aware that there were other women who could expose his relationships

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