Florida Republican Rep Whose Underwear Pics Leaked Online Explains He Was Just Proud of His Weight Loss

Let's be honest. The first instinct most people have when a Republican politician's seminude photos emerge online is that a sex scandal is about to unfold. Probably a gay sex scandal. So when pics of state Rep. Peter Nehr leaked online in, of all places, the political blog of the Tampa Bay Times, we expected something juicy. But he explains he's just a diabetic who is really proud of his 50-pound weight loss.

The pics, including one of Nehr in black briefs and prominently displaying the barbed-wire tattoo on his bicep, showed up late afternoon on the Buzz with little explanation aside from political editor Adam C. Smith's quip, "unfortunately someone sent us these shots."

Since we didn't think that the Tampa Bay Times was a tabloid, we assumed some scandal was about to drop, but Nehr penned a letter explaining he's a diabetic who's proud of his recent 50-pound weight loss:

I have been a diabetic for many years and like many diabetics have had problems with my weight and my blood sugar control. The attached pictures are all originals with no photo shopping which include a before picture and after picture of my face and also a before and after picture of my body. I went from 210 pounds to 160 pounds and from a 38 inch waistline to a 30 inch waistline...

I have sent these pictures to many of my friends that have been following my health and diabetes progress and they have shared them with others as well. It appears that someone who has a problem with my politics is trying to use them in a way to hurt my campaign. I am proud of what I have done to improve my health and will discuss this with anyone who wants to know how to do what I did.

You know, this doesn't set off our bullshit detector. It seems, well, kinda legit.

Like, yeah, of course the first thing someone who loses a bunch of weight does is take creepy shirtless pictures and post them online. Have you been on Facebook or Tumblr recently?

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