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Anthony Weiner Presser Devolves into Bizarre Spectacle

By DNAinfo Staff on June 6, 2011 7:44pm  | Updated on June 7, 2011 8:21am

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MIDTOWN — Rep. Anthony Weiner took to the podium Monday afternoon, choking back tears as he apologized to his wife and staff for sending lewd photos to young women he met online.

But what the Congressman and once-Mayoral hopeful may have expected to be a heartfelt public revelation felt more like a circus as it devolved into a lewd shouting match at times.

Weiner's half-hour mea culpa started with a bizarre hijacking of his podium by the conservative blogger who singlehandedly broke the story of his online infidelity, and ended with a hurricane of questions that ranged from the serious to the surreal.

Among the reporters gaggle in the audience were a prankster from the Howard Stern show and conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, of the website BigGovernment.com, which released the sensational Weiner photos, starting with the infamous gray boxer shorts.

Amidst queries about the extent of his lies about sending out the photos via Twitter and how much his staff and family knew about the truth, some pranksters in the audience tried to steal the show, shouting increasingly personal questions as Weiner grew visibly agitated.

"Are you using drugs?" repeated one reporter. "Were you on illegal substances when you sent them?"

When Weiner said he’d never had sex outside his marriage, some yelled "I’m sure!" and laughed and whistled audibly.

But the most head-turning attack came from a man seated in the second row, believed to be Howard Stern Show writer Benjy Bronk, who had tweeted earlier in the day that he hoped to attend.

"In the gray... photo, were you fully erect? Were you fully erect or are you capable of more?" he yelled.

The media circus began around 3 p.m. in a third floor ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown, where reporters gathered to witness what many speculated could be Weiner's resignation announcement. More than twenty cameras packed the ballroom, as dozens of reporters huddled, standing by.

Then, shortly before 4 p.m., the stated start time of Weiner's press conference, the assembled press spotted blogger Andrew Breitbart of the conservative website BigGovernment.com — the man who had first reported the now-infamous gray-shorts closeup Tweeted from Weiner's account, along with a second round of embarassing pics released Monday morning.

Urged on by some in the audience, Breitbart took to the stage with a full-scale rant, angrily defending his reporting against those who’d questioned his story and saying he’d been victimized by Weiner and the left-wing press.

"I’d like an apology from him," said Breitbart, who threatened to release another image of Weiner he claimed was "of an X-rated nature."

"If this guy wants to start fighting with me again, I have this photo," he said. "If he wants to fight with fire…."

After 14 jaw-dropping minutes on stage, Breitbart made his exit, as a confused press corps sat stunned.

Minutes passed after Breitbart left the stage. And nothing.

The bizarre turn of events prompted some in the audience to question whether the whole thing was a hoax.

"Tweeps, this is a real Anthony Weiner presser. We were not punked into covering Breitbart," tweeted Politico's Maggie Haberman.

Congressman Anthony Weiner speaks at a panel discussion at the 2010 New Yorker Festival, October 2, 2010.
Congressman Anthony Weiner speaks at a panel discussion at the 2010 New Yorker Festival, October 2, 2010.
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Amy Sussman/Getty Images

"I have covered many, many weird pressers in #NYC in (the) last four years. This (might) top them," she wrote.

More time passed. And then, someone shouted they'd spotted Weiner behind a small, side door on the right side of the room.

After more minutes of waiting, Weiner suddenly emerged, and walked to the podium, as cameras swarmed. He took a sip of water as Breitbart stood silently in the crowd.

Weiner spent a painful half-hour standing at the mercy of the press corps, answering each question with a lump in his throat and an apparent endless stream of patience.

But as the conference continued to devolve into an absurd spectacle, he finally tore himself away from the mic.

"Let's get him!" some could be heard shouting, as the congressman was rushed offstage, with the gaggle of reporters nearly toppling over a heavy speaker as they followed the congressman to the exit.