Breaking: Dave Weigel Hired By Washington Post Subsidiary Slate

Barely a month after Dave Weigel resigned from the Washington Post, he has been hired by…the Washington Post.

Well, to be more specific, by Post subsidiary Slate Magazine. Michael Calderone tweeted the news this evening, and Weigel confirmed shortly thereafter.

Weigel's resignation came after it was revealed he had made derogatory and highly offensive comments towards prominent conservatives on the liberal media listserv JournoList. Those included suggesting that Matt Drudge should set himself on fire, wishing death on Rush Limbaugh (incidentally, he wasn't the only JournoLister to do so), and dubbing Newt Gingrich an "amoral blowhard."

It wasn't the first time Weigel got in trouble for offensive comments. It wasn't the first time he took heat over comments made about Matt Drudge. He also called gay marriage opponents bigots, sparking outrage from some on the right.

Since Weigel had been hired to cover the political right, most conservatives believed he would be a counterweight to Ezra Klein, who covers the liberal beat on his own WaPo blog. Weigel's comments confirmed (though anyone who had read his work already suspected) that he would not bring that hoped-for balance.

Weigel's comments also set off a media frenzy over the extensive behind-the-scenes media collaboration on JournoList. Andrew Breitbart offered $100,000 for the JournoList archives. The Daily Caller eventually got a hold of those archives, and has published a number of exposes on some of the more controversial discussions that took place on the list.

The news that Weigel has been hired by a Post-owned publication suggests that his resignation was just a move to shield him - and possibly the Post - while the controversy blew over. Though the biosphere is still buzzing about the JournoList scandal, pundits have been largely silent on Weigel's role in that scandal since shortly after his resignation.

Like that of its parent publication, Slate's editorial stance is distinctly liberal.