Anthony Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, have reportedly turned to the Clintons in the aftermath of the congressman's startling confession that he's been carrying on inappropriate online relationships with several women for years, including after they tied the knot last summer.
Bill Clinton officiated over the couple's nuptials. And Abedin has worked for years for Hillary Clinton, now the U.S. secretary of state who's had her own share of public humiliations thanks to her husband's famous infidelities.
Abedin reportedly called her boss Monday afternoon, shortly after Weiner, 46, confessed privately to his wife that his Twitter and Facebook accounts had not been hacked and that he, indeed, had himself sent lewd photos, and exchanged sexy texts, with several women for years.
The 35-year-old political aide is travelling this week with Hillary Clinton on a weeklong, four-country visit to Africa. It's hard to imagine the so-called Weinergate, and the public humiliation that's come with it, won't be a primary topic of conversation between the two close friends during their downtime.
"I have one daughter," Hillary Clinton said at a pre-wedding gathering for Weiner and Abedin last July. "But if I had a second daughter, it would (be) Huma."
Weiner, meantime, has reached out to Bill Clinton. He reportedly called the former president following his emotional Monday news conference to apologize to a man well-known for his own marital misdeeds.
The Clintons, both intensely loyal to Abedin, were apparently "deeply unhappy" about so-called Weinergate, according to a New York Times report.
Some might find the notion that Bill Clinton is peeved particularly curious given that he himself was at the centre of the biggest presidential sex scandal in contemporary history after it emerged that he'd had an affair with a White House intern.
There are similarities to both scandals. Like the recipient of Weiner's bulging underpants photo two weeks ago, Monica Lewinsky was also only 21 when she became involved with Clinton.
Like Weiner, Clinton lied publicly when news of the scandal first broke, animatedly wagging his index finger at a news conference as he defiantly exclaimed: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
Later, once irrefutable proof emerged _ via a stained blue dress _ that Lewinsky and Clinton had engaged in sexual contact, Clinton tried to debate "what the meaning of the word 'is' is" _ dissecting the word in response to questions from a grand jury on precisely when he was having sexual relations with her.
Both men faced intense pressure to quit. Even those in the Democratic party are urging Weiner to resign, saying the attention being paid to the scandal comes just as Democrats were gaining momentum against Republicans with their attacks against the party's controversial budget plans.
"Lying is unforgivable. Lying publicly about something like this is unforgivable, and he should resign," said Tim Kaine, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee now running for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia.
The White House, meantime, said Wednesday it won't comment on Weinergate.
Clinton, for his part, was almost forced out of the White House when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives impeached him on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in late 1998. The U.S. Senate acquitted him a few weeks later and he served out the second term of his presidency.
Both Clinton and Weiner also have wives who, while devastated by their husband's misdeeds, have opted to remain in their marriages.
Abedin loves her husband, and apparently knew about Weiner's past online relationships before they were married but had been assured they were a thing of the past. The Wall Street Journal cited sources close to the couple who say that nonetheless, she's resolved to remain married to Weiner.
Hillary Clinton, who once famously declared she wasn't "some little woman 'standing by my man' like Tammy Wynette," has, in fact, stood by her man through several sex scandals involving women ranging from Gennifer Flowers to Paula Jones.
She appeared on "60 Minutes" in 1992 and addressed head-on rumours of her husband's womanizing. Many credit her remarks with helping save Clinton's presidential campaign.
"I'm sitting here because I love him and I respect him, and I honour what he's been through and what we've been through together," she said.
Abedin, intensely private and committed to her own career, isn't expected to make any similar public statements. She also opted against appearing at Weiner's side when he made his confession earlier this week, as many humiliated political wives before her have done.
"I just don't think that's who she is, to stand there like that," a friend told the Wall Street Journal. "She's not a stand-by-your-man type. She's very private. If he had been announcing some sort of positive thing, she wouldn't have been there, either."
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