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Is Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter Hack Criminal?

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on May 31, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Democratic New York Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter hack has him running to an attorney. As part of the Twitter hack on Weiner, a lewd photo of a man wearing bulging boxer briefs was sent to a female college student in Seattle, reports Reuters.

Weiner dismisses the incident as a prank. The college student in question, Gennette Cordova, is one of his Twitter followers, but she says that she has never met the congressman before.

Weiner is married to Huma Abedin, who works for Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, reports ABC News. So, does a Twitter hack warrant criminal - or civil - investigation?

Maybe, depending on the severity of the hack and what the hacker did. Politicians have been the target of hackers in the past. Sarah Palin's e-mail account was famously hacked in 2008, and last year a French national hacked into President Obama's Twitter account, reports ABC News.

The Twitter post made on Weiner's account was posted last Friday, but it was deleted shortly after it was posted, reports Reuters. Weiner even responded to the hack with a joke, posting "More Weiner Jokes for all my guests!" with the hashtag "Hacked!"

Rumors had circulated that Weiner was having some sort of relationship with Cordova, but she has summarily dismissed these claims, according to Reuters.

Weiner has since retained an attorney for "criminal and civil" legal advice regarding the hack, reports The Washington Post. If Weiner wanted to pursue criminal actions, however, a private attorney cannot really help him there - he would have to contact the police or the District Attorney's office to report the hack. So far, no news of any investigation by authorities has been reported.

As for any possible "civil" action, it could be possible - but only if it's shown that Weiner's Twitter hack is real. Some people still seem to think Weiner's lewd photo of a man in bulging boxer briefs, as weird as it is, was sent by himself to Cordova. He has, however, denied any role in the dirty Twitter picture.

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