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(Image source: Twitter / @LukeRussert)
BY ELIZABETH HAGEDORN
Remember that aspiring model Congressman Steve Cohen claimed was his out-of-wedlock secret
daughter? Well, it turns out the math just didn't quite add up.
It all started at this year's State of the Union when Cohen was spotted sending a series
of tweets to 24-year-old swimsuit model Victoria Brink. (Via WATN)
The following tweets, many signed with "I love you," had Washington wondering just
who the mystery woman was. (Via New York Magazine)
"I haven't been able to say this before now, and I only found out three years ago, but
I've known since then that the young lady is my daughter." (Via CBS)
The Tennessee Democrat claimed to have learned about his long-lost daughter when Google searching
an ex-girlfriend, realizing she had a daughter and doing the math.
But CNN questioned the calculations and offered to facilitate a paternity test. The
results? John Brink is in fact Victoria Brink's father — not the Congressman. (Via ABC)
"Is there a lesson out of all of this for you?"
"Maybe do a DNA test first?" "All this drama based on Google search and
a couple of tweets."
When asked about the test by a reporter with Real Clear Politics, Cohen apparently responded: "You're
very attractive, but I'm not talking about it." (Via Twitter / @CHueyBurnsRCP)
He later apologized to the reporter and issued a statement saying he was "stunned and dismayed" to
learn Brink wasn't his daughter. (Via YouTube / RepCohen)
Predictably, pundits on Twitter had some fun with the whole affair. Media critic Howard
Kurtz joked: "Steve Cohen may now be only congressman in history to claim a love child
that turned out (after paternity test) not to be his." (Via Twitter / @HowardKurtz)
The Washington Post's Aaron Blake also looked on the bright side: "Steve Cohen is having
a bad day. But he'll always have a rap song written about him." (Via Twitter / @AaronBlakeWP)
"Keep goin' and goin' with Steve Cohen. Keep goin' and goin' with Steve Cohen." (Via YouTube
/ Peter Ceren)