Breitbart Entertains Conservative Crowd with Weiner Tale

A conservative crowd at the Newport Beach Golf Course's Tee Room restaurant Thursday was liberal with applause and laughs as it listened to a talk by the man who made U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) a household name.

Commentator Andrew Breitbart was in town to promote his book, Righteous Indignation, Excuse Me While I Save the World!, at a "conservative happy hour" organized by Mike Munzing, a South County resident planning a congressional run.

"It's been a terrible week for double entendre and puns," he said.

Breitbart late last month broke the story about Weiner sending lewd messages and photos—such as the infamous crotch shot sent to a woman in Seattle—on his website, biggovernment.com.

“I’m not chasing congressional genitals for a living" he said. "This thing just happened.”

Weiner initially denied the allegations, saying someone had hacked his Twitter account. That led to accusations that Breitbart was the hacker.

Breitbart said he had been contacted by someone in Texas who said a friend had received lewd photos and messages from Weiner, but it took several days before he was able to get them.

"I had to fend and fight for myself," Breitbart told the crowd, calling the experience "excruciating."

He later published some of the photos on his website, including one of a shirtless Weiner and another of the congressman sitting on a couch next to a couple of cats. Brietbart said he was holding back the most graphic photo, "the most lurid, disgusting, I-can't-believe-it type of thing."

But it was ultimately released this week via Twitter by talk show hosts Opie and Anthony. Breitbart says he showed the photo, which was stored on his phone, to them in their studio, and they secretly captured the image with cameras in the studio.

"They screwed me over," Breitbart said. "I regret that the photo got out there under those nefarious means."

Weiner—whose wife, Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is reportedly pregnant—has since admitted to taking part in inappropriate exchanges with six women. During a Monday press conference, Weiner apologized to the media and Breitbart.

“That’s what I did my first week of summer vacation," Breitbart said of his involvement in what is being called Weinergate.

Several of Weiner's Democratic colleagues in Congress have called on Weiner to resign, according to reports, but he says he will not. A recent poll found that 56 percent of Weiner's constituents think he should stay in office.