Shea-Porter tries to distance herself from Weiner: We “never socialized”

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Shea-Porter tries to distance herself from Weiner: We “never socialized”

By Patrick Hynes
June 8, 2011

Former Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter took to an obscure blog known more for amateur poetry than cogent political commentary to draw distance between herself and disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).

On Tuesday, a Journal investigation revealed that before she was voted out of office, Shea-Porter had formed the so-called “Middle Class Working Group” with Rep. Anthony Weiner. There were only eight members of the group.

We asked a Congressional expert about this group. We learned that these kinds of “working groups” have no official role in Congress, have no standing and members are not appointed by Congressional leaders. Instead they are generally intimate, self-organizing groups of like-minded members of Congress who enjoy working with one another.

Nevertheless, Shea-Porter now claims she barely knew the embattled Weiner.

“No, not true. Never socialized,” she insists.

We sought comment from Shea-Porter during our initial investigation, but she did not respond for comment.

Shea-Porter has a history of creative recollections. Prior to losing her reelection bid, Shea-Porter attempted to whitewash an incident from 2006 that resulted in her being forcibly removed from a George W. Bush town hall event by two police officers. An investigation by this correspondent proved her critics had been telling the truth and that Shea-Porter was lying.