“We’ve retained counsel to explore the proper next steps and to advise us on what civil or criminal actions should be taken,” Weiner spokesman Dave Arnold said in an email. “This was a prank. We are loath to treat it as more, but we are relying on professional advice.”

Weiner maintains that he thinks the issue is a distraction started and driven by conservatives. “At a time when the GOP is playing games with the debt limit, a member of the Supreme Court is refusing to recuse himself from matters he has a financial interest in, and middle class incomes are stagnant, many want to change the subject. I don’t,” Weiner said in an email to TheDC. “This was a prank, and a silly one. I’m focused on my work.”