After losing in the court of public opinion for years, on Monday former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison by a federal judge for sexting with a 15-year old girl. The husband of longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, Weiner's habit of engaging women in sexual relationships online has played out publicly since he was forced to resign after attempting to cover one such relationship up back in 2011.

His guilt has been obvious almost from the outset. But before Weiner, whose star was rising in the Democratic Party at the time, ever admitted to any wrongdoing, some on the Left were quick to offer desperate defenses of his innocence.

The Washington Free Beacon's Alex Griswold on Monday posted a segment Rachel Maddow devoted to the subject a few days after Weiner was initially caught tweeting an indecent picture of himself in the summer of 2011. The MSNBC host devoted nearly six minutes of her show to posing laughable theories that sought to explain away the incident as a hacking, per Weiner's contention. Enjoy!

Weiner's in the news again, so time to link to my favorite Rachel Maddow segment https://t.co/3GyNZTRtTE — Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) September 25, 2017

Less than one week later, Weiner admitted his guilt.

Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.