Weiner’s tale of self-destruction shakes up race for presidency
new york — Once a hard-charging young congressman, Anthony Weiner lost his career and his marriage to a habit of trading sexually explicit messages that he couldn’t shake — a lurid tale of personal self-destruction that’s suddenly found its way into the race for president.
Weiner is separated from Huma Abedin, the vice chairwoman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and one of the Democratic nominee’s closest aides. It’s the federal investigation into his sexting habits that is the “unrelated case” that led the FBI to a new batch of emails, which agency director James Comey told Congress on Friday may be “pertinent to our investigation” into Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.
And that has once again cast a spotlight on Weiner, one-time rising Democratic Party star whose very name has become a punchline. Weiner was forced to resign his seat in Congress in 2011, after accidentally posting a picture of himself in his underwear — a private message intended for a woman who was not his wife — to his Twitter account.
Abedin stood by him, and he had the audacity to ask for the voters’ forgiveness and run for mayor two years later. He spent time atop the polls, until fresh evidence emerged that he hadn’t given up his sexting habit and destroyed his campaign.
When Weiner was caught again sending racy messages last summer, Abedin left him. Federal investigators started a probe in September into whether he had sexted with a 15-year-old girl.
“I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt,” Weiner said after he and Abedin separated, lamenting what he called his “terrible judgment.”
The former congressman did not respond to repeated requests for comment, as the impact of his sexting extended far beyond his household.
Clinton, who has referred to Abedin as a “second daughter,” lashed out on Saturday at the FBI’s handling of a new email review that arrived as unexpectedly as did the revelation that Weiner was involved. The development led to a chorus of Democratic leaders decrying the bureau’s actions, which came with a little less than two weeks remaining before Election Day. —