Mediaite’s Sources On WeinerGate ‘Betty And Veronica’ Turn Out Not To Be Who They Claimed

Keep in mind that in the original report, Christopher reported that one of these two underage girls who had initially claimed to have had inappropriate interactions with Weiner had been lying. We used that as evidence to support Breitbart not running stories that he had not been able to verify. That report stands, and is still technically correct, though for completely different reasons that we will explain below.

What We Know

In reporting this story, Christopher sought and gathered information in a professional and responsible manner. Most of the material facts that these sources provided to Christopher (direct messages, accounts of Twitter exchanges) have been independently verified, and so the central themes of that post remain unchanged. There was an effort to fabricate evidence against Anthony Weiner, and Andrew Breitbart did not solicit or attempt to use that fabricated evidence. The interactions of the principals in the story were all made under the belief that these were minor children. All Twitter exchanges are thoroughly documented, and Direct Messages have been authenticated.

The sources known as Betty, Veronica, and Mrs. Betty, in fact, appear to be the same person(s) who opened and ran the corresponding Twitter accounts, but their real life identities do not match the documentation they provided to our reporter.

What We Don’t Know

Currently, the real identities of these sources is unknown. Even more mysterious is their possible motivation. These Twitter accounts date back several months, and their pattern of behavior has been somewhat inconsistent.

When Betty first approached Christopher (first via Twitter, then email), she said her primary concerns were the actions of the online group, led by @PatriotUSA76. She made the allegation that this group had approached her and Veronica on behalf of Andrew Breitbart and Dana Loesch to manufacture evidence against Rep. Weiner. When Christopher discovered a screenprint of Direct Messages between Veronica and Mike Stack, a member of that group, that showed Veronica actually offering such evidence, all three of these sources explained that Veronica had been lying to everyone in a misguided bid for attention. The allegations about Andrew Breitbart were not included in the original story, Christopher says, “because presenting this, even as a false allegation, could have unfairly damaged the reputations of Andrew Breitbart and Dana Loesch, and it didn’t add news value to the story at that time.”

The Twitter activities of Betty and Veronica date back several months, and they have had interactions with several of the principals in this story, so whatever their intentions were, they appear to be broader, and deeper, than this single plan.

Why We Ran The Original Betty And Veronica Story

At the time the story ran, Christopher had taken more than reasonable steps to verify the identities of these sources, and the material details of their story. The information in the report was based on extensive email and telephone contact with these sources, who also provided photo identification, which Christopher checked against known exemplars, and elements of which he verified to the extent possible.

“The photo of Veronica was consistent with the one on her Twitter account, but not the same photo,” Christopher says, “and I checked the physical address, found that it was not fictitious, and that the school on the girls’ IDs was consistent with that address.”

The decision to run the story had more to do with the prevention of harm than anything else, Christopher says. “The publication of the unredacted DM at Daily Kos, without proper context, posed significant risk of harm to what I believed were two innocent girls, and to the reputations of Andrew Breitbart and Dana Loesch. Without that catalyst, there was little reason to publish the story as it was. Until then, my intention was to report on what I could verify independently, and leverage these sources to make other, more relevant contacts, such as the source known as Ethel.”

“Even in hindsight,” Christopher continues, “the decision to run the story did not create harm, and did, in fact, prevent harm. As a journalist and a parent, I’m not sure what I would have done differently.”

How They Were Discovered

After the story was published, a source close to the story expressed doubts about Betty and Veronica, as did Jennifer Preston in her research and reporting for a story for the NY Times. Christopher shared, off the record, the steps he had taken to verify their identities. Since then, both Preston and Christopher have been independently investigating these sources further.

“Without concrete proof, though,” Christopher says, “we had to proceed under the assumption that these people were who they said they were, and that compromising their identities represented a significant risk of harm.”

Christopher remained in contact with Betty and her mother for several days after the story’s publication, probing them for more information. He also forwarded the contact information of several reporters who expressed an interest in interviewing them. Eventually, they broke contact with Mr. Christopher.

“Of course, that raised my suspicions,” Christopher said, “but absent proof to the contrary, it was also reasonable to assume that the extra attention spooked them, more than they already were. Until I had more information, I acted on the belief that these were minor children, at risk of harm.”

As part of their ongoing, independent investigations into this story, Christopher and Jennifer Preston have now verified that the driver’s license produced by Betty’s mother was fictitious. Christopher provided the driver’s license to Preston, who confirmed with California state officials that it was a fake.  The identities of Betty, her mother, and Veronica are still unknown, as are their motivations.

One thing that is clear from this entire episode is this: there are individuals involved in this story who remain unidentified who are taking extraordinary measures to create or influence this story and the way that it has been reported. The reasons why individuals would conspire to effect the news is anyone’s guess, but we will leave that specific speculation to you, dear reader.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.