Huma Abedin Splits from Husband Anthony Weiner After He's Caught in Third Sexting Scandal

"After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband," Huma Abedin said in a statement

Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP

Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Clinton‘s closest aides, announced Monday that she is separating from husband Anthony Weiner, just hours after his third sexting scandal came to light.

Abedin, who worked on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and who now serves as vice chairwoman of the Democratic nominee’s 2016 campaign, said in a statement: “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.”

On Sunday, the New York Post published a report alleging that Weiner has been sexting a new woman – reportedly a Donald Trump supporter. The Post published a photo that Weiner allegedly sent to the woman that showed him in his underwear in bed next to his 4-year-old son.

This ends a six-year marriage and a very public, five-year ordeal in which Abedin has stood by her husband amid two other similar sexting scandals.

Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after he accidentally tweeted a sexually explicit photo of himself that he’d intended to send as a direct message to a young woman on the other side of the country. That first sexting scandal came as Abedin was pregnant with the couple’s son, Jordan.

Weiner’s second sexting scandal broke in 2013 and brought down his campaign for mayor of New York City. The fall-out was captured in a documentary, Weiner, which was released earlier this year. Weiner and his wife held a joint press conference in the wake of the scandal, in which he apologized to her repeatedly.

Abedin then spoke about her decision to stay with her husband. “It took a lot of work and a whole lot of therapy to get to a place where I could forgive Anthony,” she said at the time. “It was not an easy choice in any way, but I made the decision that it was worth staying in this marriage. I made a decision for me, for my son and my marriage.”

The couple married in July 2010, with former President Bill Clinton performing the ceremony.

Their separation comes after the New York Post published a report late Sunday night saying the former New York Congressman has allegedly been sexting a new woman. The newspaper published screenshots of racy photos from Weiner’s alleged exchanges with a woman he described as “literally a fantasy chick” – including a selfie of his crotch with his 4-year-old son in the background. The screenshots date back to January 2015.

After his latest scandal broke Weiner skipped out on a slated appearance on The Bernie and Sid Show Monday morning. His Twitter account disappeared hours after the Post report was published.

When the Post asked for comment, Weiner, 51, said he and the woman “have been friends for some time.”

“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,” he said.

Among Weiner’s shirtless selfies was one shot of the former Congressman lying in bed, wearing only white boxer briefs, next to his son.

The Post reported the conversation between Weiner and his sexting partner leading up to that moment:

“Someone just climbed into my bed,” Weiner allegedly wrote.

“Really?” she responded.

That’s when, according to the Post, Weiner sent a selfie showing himself in his underwear next to his son.

The woman then allegedly wrote: “You do realize you can see you[r] Weiner in that pic??”