Federal prosecutors are weighing
bringing child-pornography charges against former congressman Anthony Weiner (Huma Abedine's husband)
over sexually explicit exchanges he allegedly had with a 15-year-old girl,
according to people familiar with the matter.
Weiner, a New
York Democrat, is being investigated by the U.S.
attorney’s office in Manhattan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which
seized his electronic devices, including a laptop and a cellphone, as part of
the probe.
Officials initiated the investigation
last fall, after the Daily Mail in the U.K. reported that Mr. Weiner had
exchanged sexually explicit messages and photos with the girl.
In recent weeks, according to some of
the people familiar with the matter, attorneys for Mr. Weiner have had
discussions with federal prosecutors in Manhattan in hopes of dissuading them
from bringing charges, or at least from bringing the most serious one:
production of child pornography, which carries a 15-year mandatory minimum
prison sentence upon conviction.
These types of discussions can indicate
both sides are trying to reach an agreement in which the defendant pleads
guilty in exchange for a less-severe charge.
Weiner could face the production
charge, some of the people familiar with the case say, because he allegedly
solicited explicit images from the teenager.
Prosecutors also are weighing other
charges, including receipt of child pornography, for which conviction carries a
five-year mandatory minimum, and possession of child pornography, which has no
mandatory minimum. Legal experts say receipt and possession encompass virtually
the same misconduct, but the two charges are a way to give prosecutors more
discretion in their charging decisions.
Prosecutors could decide not to bring
any charges.
It isn’t known what images prosecutors
have found in the course of the investigation. Federal child pornography laws
are broadly written, and lawyers who have defended people charged with child
pornography say certain types of images could receive lighter treatment under
the law, such as photos of nude minors who aren’t engaging in sexually explicit
activity.
In determining child-pornography
charges, prosecutors often take into account a range of contextual evidence,
including whether a person specifically sought out a minor, whether the
incident fits a pattern of similar behavior with minors and whether the person
knew the individual was a minor.
Mr. Weiner has said he might have been
the victim of a hoax. The Daily Mail reported in September that Mr. Weiner had
provided the newspaper copies of two emails the teenager sent him that he said
“raised questions about her claims.”
Mr. Weiner resigned from Congress in
2011, after the first reports that he had lewd exchanges with women online. He
attempted a political resurrection with a New York City mayoral bid in 2013,
but his career in politics was ultimately extinguished after a fresh round of
sexually explicit messages he had exchanged with another woman emerged in the
midst of his campaign.
The high-profile criminal probe into
Mr. Weiner upended the final days of the 2016 presidential race. Less than two
weeks before election day, FBI Director James Comey disclosed that FBI agents
had discovered a laptop with emails that might be related to the probe of a
private email server used by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton while she was secretary of state. The emails turned out to have
been on a laptop used by Mr. Weiner and his now-estranged wife, Huma Abedin, a
top aide to Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Comey ultimately announced, two
days before the election, that the search of the laptop had turned up nothing
to change investigators’ opinions that Mrs. Clinton shouldn’t be charged in the
email investigation.
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