Nude Twitter Pic Ends Another Political Career

The chief of staff to Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers resigned after a former flame (and former adult film star) tweeted out a nude picture of the GOP aide.

Adam Chandler
Jun 24, 2014
Politics

This article is from the archive of our partner .

The chief of staff to Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers resigned after a former flame (and former adult film star) tweeted out a nude picture of the GOP aide.

Adam Kuhn became the latest political figure to have his career interrupted by a digital mishap when Jennifer Roubenes Allbaugh (stage name "Ruby") sent at least one picture of Kuhn's chief of staff to his boss via Twitter. Naturally, an uproar ensued and Kuhn resigned today.

Kuhn issued a statement-cum-apology to Politico:

Over the weekend, I was the victim of an attack on Twitter from a woman I had a relationship with in my personal life. I realize and apologize I had used poor judgement in my personal life regarding this relationship. The woman who posted this has reached out to me to apologize.”

Now that we've officially entered the era of weird Twitter scandals, Kuhn's resignation becomes fodder for debates about what constitutes a transgression:

It's not clear to me what Adam Kuhn owes a public apology for. http://t.co/ZvEP7SbNwB
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) June 24, 2014

Erections have consequences. RT @TheStalwart: Does this really warrant a resignation? http://t.co/hkQjZhhonp
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) June 24, 2014

While Kuhn appears to be the victim of a sort of revenge porn, he did carry on a relationship with a married woman. Whether this should result in having to leave office is now the business of thinkpiece authors everywhere.

A @politico story w/the words “penis,” “congressman,” “chief of staff,” “revenge” + “Adult Video News Hall of Fame” http://t.co/wmgchER2aj
— Evan Smith (@evanasmith) June 24, 2014

So whither, American political leadership? Between Kuhn, Christopher Lee, David Vitter, Anthony Weiner, Vance McAllister, and countless others in recent years, we're a scandal-weary electorate. Something has to give.

What a weird world we live in. http://t.co/Fzo0BvgkGH
— Alex Parker (@AlexParkerDC) June 24, 2014

Let's call a ceasefire. Politicians must quit having sex, quit Twitter, quit taking pictures of themselves or quit letting other people have access to images of them doing scandalous things. We owe it to ourselves. Or at least to all the other Adam Kuhns out there.

Dear Lord... that's great for google searches! RT @A_Dunkel: @Adam_Kuhn um... something you want to tell us? haha http://t.co/2EdKjsQ6jw
— Adam Kuhn (@Adam_Kuhn) June 24, 2014

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

About the Author

Adam Chandler is a former staff writer at The Atlantic.
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