Anthony Weiner
Amy Sussman/Getty
The kerfuffle, which some tabloid press is calling "Weinergate," kicked off Friday when a photo of a man's bulging crotch in boxer briefs appeared in Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter stream.
The Tweet was addressed to college student Gennette Cordova, 21, of Seattle – but the image was visible to all of Weiner's 40,000 followers.
The post was swiftly deleted, and the New York Democrat soon Tweeted that his account had been hacked. "More Weiner Jokes for all my guests," he Tweeted.
Cordova denied that she had ever met Weiner, much less had a relationship with him as some bloggers intimated. (The photo was first reported by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart's biggovernment.com.)
"I have never met Congressman Weiner, though I am a fan," she told the New York Daily News over the weekend. "I've never been to New York or to D.C."
Cordova also addressed the fact she once Tweeted, "I wonder what my boyfriend @RepWeiner is up to," explaining that it was a joke.
"I have seen myself labeled as the 'Femme Fatale of Weinergate,' 'Anthony Weiner's 21-year-old coed mistress' and 'the self-proclaimed girlfriend of Anthony Weiner,'" she told the Daily News in the statement. "All of this is so outlandish that I don't know whether to be pissed off or amused, quite frankly."
