NEW YORK CITY — In an email to supporters, former Rep. Anthony Weiner acknowledged Wednesday that “powerful voices” are calling for him to bow out of the mayor's race in the face of new revelations about his career-halting sexting scandal — behavior he called a “personal failing” and a “terrible mistake.”
But Weiner maintained he will continue his campaign despite the latest disclosures, which he said he and his wife, Huma Abedin, “have put behind” them after she gave him a second chance that he has “never stopped being grateful for.”
“Before and after announcing my run for mayor, I repeatedly answered every question about these mistakes. I was clear that these relationships took place over an extended period of time with more than one person. I regret not saying explicitly when these exchanges happened,” Weiner wrote.
“But the bottom line is that the ‘news’ today is about my past life.”
On Monday, the website TheDirty.com posted a claim by a woman who said she carried on an online relationship with Weiner up to the summer of 2012, more than a year after he resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives and while Abedin was pregnant with their son.
According to the site's anonymous source, after being contacted by Weiner via Facebook, they began communicating regularly online and over the phone.
The anonymous woman also claims Weiner — who reportedly went by the screen name “Carlos Danger” — offered to buy her a Chicago condo at 1235 S. Prairie Ave. where they could meet for sex.
On Tuesday, Weiner and Abedin addressed the situation before a candidate forum at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis center in Manhattan.
“I said that other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have,” Weiner told reporters.
Abedin said that it had taken a lot of work to forgive her husband for his actions that occurred before and after he resigned from Congress in 2011.
“It was not an easy choice in any way, but I made the decision that it was worth staying in this marriage,” she said.
In the email, Weiner said he “completely [understood] that some may not ever even consider voting for me.”
Still, he said he would continue to campaign to persuade reluctant voters.
“This fight is too important to give up, because I've had embarrassing personal things become public,” he wrote.
