Huma Abedin Announces Separation From Anthony Weiner Amid New Sexting Scandal

Huma Abedin has decided to separate from her husband Anthony Weiner, who is in the middle of a new sexting scandal.

Huma Abedin, Anthony Weiner Separating

Abedin, a longtime aide of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, released a statement Monday morning to announce that she is separating from Weiner. The announcement comes on the heels of a new report exposing Weiner’s ongoing extramarital sexting.

“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband. 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 said in the statement released today.

Over the weekend, it was revealed that Weiner has not quit his sexting habit following two prior scandals. Weiner has apparently been exchanging messages with an unnamed “40-something divorcee” since January 2015, according to the New York Post. Last month, Weiner sent the woman a picture of himself in just a pair of white boxer briefs with his and Abedin’s son Jordan, 4, in the background.

After sending the picture, Weiner feared that he’d accidentally posted it on his public Twitter profile. “Ooooooh . . . I was scared. For half a second I thought I posted something,” Weiner wrote, adding, “Stop looking at my crotch.”

Over the months, Weiner and the woman exchanged many images of themselves in various states of undress, and their text messages frequently veered into sexual territory. Weiner also reportedly attempted to meet up with the woman in New York City, which supposedly never happened.

Weiner did not deny the messages when asked for comment. “[We have been friends for some time,” Weiner told the Post. “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.”

When Weiner was asked just last month about whether or not he’d kicked his sexting habit – which led to his resignation from Congress in 2011 and a failed mayoral bid in 2013 – he declined to get into the matter.

“I’m not going to go down the path of talking about any of that,” Weiner told The New York Times. “But I will say this: There’s no doubt that the [Donald] Trump phenomenon has led a lot of people to say to me, ‘Boy, compared to inviting the Russians to come hack someone’s email, your thing seems almost quaint.’ ”