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State Rep. Justin Moed's former sexting partner, Sydney Leathers, appeared on WZPL's Smiley Morning Show this morning as he returned to the State House for the first time since this scandal broke last week. Leathers discussed how Rep. Moed paid her $100 a pop or more using a PayPal account to engage in sexting conversations with her before he started buying gifts for her from her wish list on Amazon, which was the point at which she discovered his actual identity when his name appeared on the gifts delivered to her, including a pink dog collar and leash. Leathers claimed during the interview that Moed had told her he was an attorney. Although he's a state lawmaker, Moed is not an attorney. Should we care that a state lawmaker misrepresented himself to her as an attorney? In addition to the young black man named Omar with whom Moed said he engaged in casual, sexual hook-ups and shared nude pictures of, Leathers said Moed had also told her he paid for the services of a local dominatrix in Indianapolis who had him dress up in a French maid outfit and clean her house while she talked down to him. Hmm. I wonder which local dominatrix that was?
Click on the link embedded in the Twitter post below to listen to the full interview.
The Gannett-owned Indianapolis Star has a new list discussing the sexting scandal involving one of political columnist Matthew Tully's favorite circle jerk buddies, State Rep. Justin Moed (D-Indianapolis), and finds "hope" that he might survive. Once you figure out that Gannett newspapers are nothing more than one giant psyop against the American people, this list like the others they throw at us virtually daily makes sense, particularly since one of Gannett's primary goals is to define deviancy down.
The Star's Tom LoBianco used to be the best State House reporter when he worked for the AP. Now that he's joined the Star, he's become nothing more than a list-maker regurgitating Gannett's talking points. LoBianco gives us six reasons today why Rep. Moed might survive.
1. Moed clipped the story by apologizing quickly. Sexting scandals only get worse if allowed to linger without a response.
2. He's a Democrat, and he's supported gay marriage. The fallout on scandals like this tends to be worse for conservative "family values" politicians, specifically because of the implicit hypocrisy.
3. Moed is not alone. There's a long list of scandals involving Hoosier politicos and officials. The stories range from soliciting sex from undercover police in men's bathrooms to being listed as a client of the "D.C. Madame."
4. He didn't break the law. Based on the allegations, all Moed is guilty of is poor judgment.
5. Sex scandals can be damaging, but even that isn't always permanent in politics. The bizarre disappearance of then-South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford in the summer of 2009, and the resulting revelation that he was carrying on an affair, forever redefined what it meant to go "hiking on the Appalachian Trail." He was censured by the South Carolina legislature — but never removed — and served out his full term as governor. He later ran for, and won, a U.S. House seat.
6. And then there's Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Many readers who called and wrote in following the Moed story landed on a very simple question — one that helped Clinton not only overcome the Lewinsky scandal but engineered a backfiring of sorts against Republicans: What business does the public have prying into the private lives of politicians?
The most important point of LoBianco's story is to reassure Moed that the newspaper won't be digging any deeper into his scandal. That's the primary point communicated here. That's because he subscribes to the Gannett agenda. Note that the Star emphasizes Moed's support for gay marriage, while omitting any mention of Moed's graphic discussion in his social media exchanges with Leathers of his BBC fetish in which he described his casual, frequent hook-ups with a buff young black man named Omar (as shown by the nearly naked images of him he sent to Leathers) while presenting himself to the public and presumably his fiancée as a straight man. I expect political columnist Matthew Tully will follow-up with a similar reassuring column any day now that emphasizes the point he made in this Twitter post shortly after news of the scandal broke.
Feel the need to note that Rep. Moed is a particularly hard-working lawmaker who has done a lot for often-neglected neighborhoods.
— Matthew Tully (@matthewltully) March 10, 2015
LoBianco concludes Rep. Moed broke no laws without even lifting a finger to ascertain the veracity of that generalization. Good investigative journalism would require a reporter to look at this major character flaw exposed to us by a porn star and ask whether those seeking to influence Moed's votes as a state lawmaker had exploited that weakness to their advantage. Was one of the down low lobbyists (and there are more than a few of them) helping finance his sexual exploits at local hotels and on out-of-town trips? Moed didn't just show up at the State House. He worked as a door man for the House Democrats for several years before becoming a state lawmaker. We learned without any digging that Rep. Moed was partying with former State Rep. Dennie Oxley, a fellow House Democratic staffer at the time, the same night Oxley was found highly intoxicated at a downtown Citgo gas station holding the high heels of a 21-year old intern, who was also found to be highly intoxicated. Oxley was later arrested for impersonating a lawmaker to avoid arrest under legislative immunity while the legislature was in session. Has the Star inquired about whether Moed has engaged in inappropriate sexual relationships in the past with House staffers as rumored?
Is the Star digging to find out whether Rep. Moed's government-issued laptop computer was being used for his sexual exploits? Has the Star put in a public records request for Rep. Moed's e-mails? Has the Star asked whether any campaign dollars may have been misspent. The IBJ's lastest edition has a story inquiring about more than $10,000 City-County Council President Maggie Lewis reimbursed herself over the past couple of years in large round numbers from her campaign funds without any detailed explanation. The Star, however, seems more intent on telling us there's nothing really to see here, folks, just move along. After all, Moed's got important work ahead of him like helping the shadowy Turkish immigrant, Ersal Ozdemir, obtain state approval for public financing of a new soccer stadium for his Indy Eleven minor league professional soccer team, along with other goodies thrown in to promote development of the former GM Stamping Plant site for a new outdoor music venue and criminal justice center, all of which have been given the seal of approval by the newspaper and which are being co-authored by Moed. The Star doesn't seem to have much of an appetite for digging into the background of Ozdemir either, and there's plenty there on which to report. Gee, I wonder why that is?
Justin Moed is in the Statehouse for today's House session.
— Jim Shella (@shellawish) March 16, 2015
Justin Moed back in Indiana House today. Shaking hands, talking w other House members
— Tom LoBianco (@tomlobianco) March 16, 2015
UPDATE: Not all Democratic lawmakers welcomed State Rep. Justin Moed back into the fold when he returned to the State House today. Four walked off the floor. WISH-TV's Jim Shella didn't say those four legislator were. Moed says he has no plans to resign.
If you thought former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) would be the last politician to see his political career shaken over sexting allegations involving Indiana's own Sydney Leathers, the Democratic political activist turned porn star, think again. She's now ensnared State Rep. Justin Moed (D-Indianapolis), and the gossip website The Dirty has the NSFW pictures to prove it. Leathers claims the 31-year old single (but engaged) lawmaker sent a number of sexually graphic text messages to her in which he refers to himself as her "Bitch Boy." Moed also supposedly sent gifts from Amazon to Leathers, including a collar with a leash. Leathers claims Moed wanted to be forced to wear a French maid outfit and clean house while she degraded him. He also allegedly wanted to be tied up and left in a closet to watch her having sex with her boyfriend.
Local news reports in Indiana are now picking up on what the New York Post's Page Six first reported last week that Leathers was about to out another lawmaker from the Midwest.
This time she’s exposed the kinky fetishes of a Democratic state legislator in the Midwest who responded as “Bitch Boy” when she advertised for a submissive she could “financially dominate.”
Leathers, who lives in Evansville, Ind., said Bitch Boy was careful to never give her his name — he sent money to her through a prepaid PayPal card — but didn’t realize his name was on the shoes and lingerie he sent her through Amazon.
“I’m a little speechless,” Leathers told me. “I Googled him and found out he’s a lawmaker. Apparently only politicians can pick up on my pheromones.”
Leathers has never met Bitch Boy, or even talked on the phone. Their entire relationship has been via text messaging.
In honor of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” here is a sample: Bitch Boy: “I am your property to do with as you wish, Mistress.” Sydney: “Yes, because you are weak and pathetic and useless.”
“This guy is into some really freaky stuff,” Leathers said. “He liked the idea of buying me a strap-on to use on him. He wanted to be forced to wear a French maid outfit and clean my house while I degraded him. He wanted to be tied up and left in a closet to watch me have sex with my boyfriend.”
Leathers, who describes herself as “about as liberal as you can get,” said, “I’m really sad. I was really hoping it was a Republican.”
And she hopes he doesn’t lose his job. “Is he displaying poor judgment by sexting me of all people? Obviously. But should sexual situations define politicians? They are human, after all.” Some apparently are more human than others.
UPDATE: Rep. Moed releases a statement through Bose Public Affairs Group according to WISH-TV confirming what we already knew as he went into hiding from State House reporters today. Why is he paying a high-paid lobbying firm at the center of no good over at the State House to speak for him? And who was going to pay for the hotel room he promised to find for Leathers and her boyfriend at the Conrad Hilton?
“I am truly sorry I have hurt the ones I love most with my poor judgment. I am committed to rebuilding trust with my family and my community. This is a private matter and I ask for it to be treated as such. I apologize to my constituents and to everyone I have let down.”
It's interesting that Moed is engaged to Rachel Ranz, a pharmacist at Roudebush VA Hospital, which was already in the news nationally this week over the controversial e-mails a manager, Robin Paul, sent to co-workers mocking suicidal veterans.
Moed with his fiance, Rachel Ranz
Nobody should be surprised by this, least of all the State House media, since the topic of this year's Gridiron Dinner was anything related to sex. Rep. Moed sure gives new meaning to being a Minority Whip.
