An upcoming documentary about former New York congressman Anthony Weiner may have been edited to exclude scenes that portray the Hillary Clinton campaign unfavorably, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Sundance-bound film was intended to follow Weiner, husband of Hillary Clinton’s closest aide Huma Abedin, during his 2013 run for New York mayor in an attempt to redeem his image after his first sexting scandal. However, when Weiner was caught in yet another sexting scandal during his campaign, the subject matter of the film changed.
Distributors who saw early cuts of the film claim that scenes unflattering to the Clinton campaign were cut out, including one where her team is seen pressuring "Abedin to immediately cut ties with Weiner, fearing the scandal will hurt the secretary of state's bid for the White House."
The Hollywood Reporter writes:
The footage is said to offer the kind of rare window into the cutthroat machinations of a presidential campaign that is typically reserved for such fictitious shows as House of Cards.
But Kriegman, who served as Weiner's chief of staff for years before becoming a filmmaker, denies that Clinton's team appears in the documentary, raising the question of whether it has been edited to expunge any fodder for the Republican Party.
In yet another twist in the labyrinthine tale, sources say Kriegman and Steinberg turned down an aggressive offer from CNN because they were worried that network chief Jeff Zucker might water down the unflattering look at Team Clinton (CNN declined to confirm whether or not it made an offer on the film). The New York-based filmmakers declined to discuss any issues surrounding the sale of the film or seemingly what's in it.
The New York Times has also referred to the film as "a source of heightened anxiety for Ms. Abedin and the Clinton campaign," writing that its portrayal of Abedin is "striking."
"Even in scenes in which Ms. Abedin is not shown, the focus is almost always on her," The New York Times reports. "How was she able to forgive Mr. Weiner the first time, the film repeatedly asks, and would she ever be able to forgive a second transgression?"