By Rebecca Henely
Huma Abedin, wife of scandal-embroiled U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills), is pregnant, according to a New York Times report.
Abedin, an aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who has been married to Weiner since July 2010, is in the early states of pregnancy, three people told the Times Monday. The newspaper reported Abedin and Weiner had shared this information with close friends and family.
This would be the couple’s first child.
Weiner’s wife has been out of the public eye but not out of its thoughts ever since the congressman accidentally tweeted a closeup photo of his underwear-clad groin to 21-year-old Seattle college student, Gennette Cordova, May 26. After initially claiming the picture was a prank by a hacker, Weiner admitted Monday he had meant the photo to be a direct message to Cordova that he had accidentally sent publicly to his thousands of twitter followers. The congressman said he had been engaging in “inappropriate conversations” over the Internet with six women, both before and after he had married Abedin.
Weiner said Monday he would not resign and planned to stay with Abedin.
“I love my wife very much, and we have no intention of splitting up over this,” Weiner said. “We have been through it together and we will weather this. I love her very much, and she loves me.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Reps. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Nydia Velazquez (D-Ridgewood) said it was up to others whether or not their Forest Hills colleague should go.
Crowley, who was asked about the situation at a news conference in favor of gay marriage at Queens Borough Hall, called the scandal a “distraction,” using the same word Weiner had used last week when he was claiming he had not sent the photo. The Jackson Heights congressman said Weiner’s political future was up to his constituents. Asked whether Weiner could potentially lose his seat when New York is redistricted, Crowley said that was up to the New York state legislature.
“That’s not for me to decide,” said Crowley, chairman of the Queens Democratic Party.
Velazquez said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) call for an ethics investigation into Weiner should ultimately determine his political fate and to make any decision beforehand would be premature.
“Let’s allow that process to move forward and see what it yields,” Velazquez said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
