Whether or not Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is guilty of anything in connection to the so-called “Weinergate” Twitter “hack”, his handling of the fallout is becoming a textbook example of how to keep a story alive. So far, the man for whom the image of Congressional Democrats is paramount, DCCC Chair Steve Israel (NY), is declining to weigh in on Weiner’s newfound adversarial relationship with the press.
Asked about Weiner’s combative interaction with reporters on Tuesday and other similar moments where he’s dodged questions about the story, Israel said he’s not really paying that much attention.
“I have no comment,” Israel said of the CNN video, where Weiner called a reporter a “jackass” for asking questions about the tweeted picture Weiner says was a “hack.”
Israel said he handn’t seen the press event, which was played repeatedly on CNN and posted across the Internet.
Asked if Weiner — one of the most prominent Democrats on Capitol Hill — is “in a jam” Israel also declined to give a direct answer.
“As I said before, he — look, he got hacked,” Israel said. “He hired a lawyer, the lawyer’s going to advise him on civil and criminal penalties and I think that he should listen carefully to what his lawyer says.”
