Washington: It was supposed to be a quiet, late-summer weekend on the exclusive shores of the Hamptons. But on Sunday, Huma Abedin, the closest aide to Hillary Clinton, received devastating news.
After accompanying Clinton to fund-raisers, Abedin learnt from her husband, Anthony Weiner, that The New York Post was about to report that he had again exchanged lewd messages with a woman on social media: the sort of behaviour that destroyed his congressional career and 2013 mayoral campaign.
Only this time, the online indiscretions included an image of Weiner’s crotch as he lay next to the couple’s 4-year-old son.
Now, Weiner’s tawdry activities may have claimed his marriage — Abedin told him that she wanted to separate — and have cast another shadow on the adviser and confidante who has been by Clinton’s side for the last two decades. Abedin was already a major figure this summer in controversies over Clinton’s handling of classified information as secretary of state and over ties between the Clinton family foundation and Clinton’s State Department.
Weiner’s extramarital behaviour also threatens to remind voters about the troubles in the Clintons’ own marriage over the decades, including Hillary Clinton’s much-debated decision to remain with then-President Bill Clinton after revelations of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Abedin’s choice to separate from her husband evokes the debates that erupted over Hillary Clinton’s handling of the Lewinsky affair, a scandal her campaign wants left in the past.
Clinton advisers expressed only sympathy for Abedin on Monday and said they were confident Weiner’s actions would not hurt Hillary Clinton, who learnt about them from Abedin and offered support. But Weiner’s behaviour quickly became fodder for Donald Trump, Clinton’s Republican opponent in the presidential race.
“Huma is making a very wise decision,” Trump said in a statement. “I know Anthony Weiner well, and she will be far better off without him.”
He then went further, claiming that the marriage’s breakdown was a matter of national security. Clinton received her first intelligence briefing as the Democratic presidential nominee on Saturday at the FBI field office in White Plains. No aides accompanied her to the briefing, according to a campaign official.
The spotlight on Abedin and her proximity to Clinton has been an increasing distraction for the campaign.
Several of Abedin’s emails on Clinton’s private server have drawn scrutiny amid accusations that donors to the Clinton Foundation received special access to the State Department.
And political opponents, including Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, have questioned Abedin’s arrangement to earn income privately while she worked for Clinton at the State Department. In addition to being on Clinton’s personal payroll, Abedin received money from the Clinton Foundation and Teneo, a consulting firm founded in part by Douglas J. Band, previously a senior aide to Clinton.
Abedin, 40, has been at Clinton’s side since she was an intern to the first lady in the 1990s. Now vice chairwoman of the Clinton campaign, Abedin, often described as a surrogate daughter, occupies an almost singular role as a trusted, and visible, confidante to Clinton.
The couple’s marital problems have been a subject of years of tabloid mockery and humiliation since Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 amid revelations that he had sent sexual images of himself to women on social media. His 2013 campaign for mayor was damaged, too, when Weiner admitted that he had continued flirting with women online.
By Monday morning, when the Post cover showing Weiner and his son, Jordan, hit news-stands, Weiner had left the Hamptons for New York City aware that Abedin planned to announce their separation, said two people close to the couple who discussed private conversations on the condition of anonymity.
“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” Abedin said in a statement. “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.”
In the messages reported by The Post, Weiner exchanged photos with a woman. She appeared in various bikinis, and Weiner was half-dressed, showing off his stomach or his groin — and they talked about sex.
In one message, Weiner abruptly changed the discussion from massage parlours and reportedly wrote, “Someone just climbed into my bed.”
“Really?” the woman replied.
His response, in a screen shot dated July 31, 2015, showed a child curled up next to Weiner, who was wearing only white briefs.
