Huma Abedin announced she will separate from her husband Anthony Weiner on Monday, after fresh allegations of sexting revealed the former congressman had sent an explicit photo to another woman with their child in the background.
“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” she wrote. “Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy.”
Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, stood by her husband’s side when the former congressman resigned in 2011 after his habit of sending sexually explicit photos first became public. Weiner ran in 2013 for New York City mayor, but his bid was derailed when he admitted that he had continued sexting other women even after his resignation from Congress.
Weiner had not sought political office since and stayed home to take care of the couple’s son while Abedin joined Clinton on the campaign trail.
On Sunday, The New York Post posted suggestive photos of Weiner, reportedly obtained from a woman who said Weiner had been sexting her since January 2015. The worst of the images shows a picture of Weiner’s crotch in boxer-briefs with his toddler son laying next to him in bed.
Weiner then wondered in the messages if he had posted the image publicly on Twitter, the same situation that had led to his resignation from Congress in 2011.
“Ooooooh ... I was scared. For half a second I thought I posted something. Stop looking at my crotch,” he said to the unidentified woman.
The woman told the Post Weiner repeatedly invited her to visit him in New York City, even saying he was a “big wheel in this town,” but she never met him in person. The Post reported she is a Donald Trump supporter and frequently posts anti-Barack Obama and Clinton messages on social media.
Weiner told the New York Post the two have been “friends” for a while.
“She has asked me not to comment except to say that our conversations were private, often included pictures of her nieces and nephews and my son and were always appropriate,” he said.
The two reportedly started talking after exchanging direct messages on Twitter following an argument with another woman, and Weiner repeatedly made undisguised, lustful comments about the woman and sent suggestive photos. The woman sent him pictures of her in bikinis and revealing clothing.
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