7/24/2013
By MATTHEW CHAYES
Anthony Weiner Wednesday rebuffed a growing chorus of demands to quit the New York City mayoral race, but told supporters he should have admitted sooner that his online sexting recurred after he resigned from Congress.
The creator of the gossip website that revealed the cyber-affair promised new revelations Thursday as Weiner tried again to explain his behavior as an outgrowth of past marital troubles and sought with little success to shift attention back to his campaign’s message.
The woman who reportedly used the alias “Sydney Leathers” planned to come forward Thursday, said Nik Richie of thedirty.com.
Some recent donors voiced regret at having supported Weiner.
By turns defiant and impatient outside a New York City Housing Authority hearing in Manhattan, Weiner said, “These are things I brought upon myself. I thought they were going to come out toward the end of the campaign, and some of them have.”
His campaign sent an email apology to supporters almost 24 hours after thedirty.com report revealed that he had carried on a steamy relationship with a woman he knew only online.
“I regret not saying explicitly when these exchanges happened,” he wrote, concluding: “New Yorkers don’t quit, and I’ll never quit on you.”
In an interview with Politico, the woman, who withheld her real name, said they had connected after Weiner contacted her on Facebook. Amid graphic sex talk, he promised to get her a job with Politico and a condo in Chicago, Politico reported. She said the two engaged in phone sex “frequently.”
Weiner’s alias was “Carlos Danger,” according to thedirty.com.
Richie said in an interview Wednesday night he would publish more “pretty shocking” details of the online affair Thursday.
The sexting — which included at least two photos of Weiner’s penis — began more than a year after his tearful resignation from the House in June 2011 over identical behavior, and continued until November 2012, according to the woman’s account to thedirty.com. Richie said Weiner also asked the woman for photos of her shoes.
The 22-year-old woman, a political activist from Indiana, said he described himself as an “argumentative, perpetually horny middle-aged man.” She added, “That’s completely correct,” according to Politico.
Weiner, 48, said Wednesday he recalled stopping the extramarital sexting last summer — “roughly August.” But Weiner admitted it was still going on when he and his wife, Huma Abedin, posed for an image-repairing photo in People magazine last July.
Although Abedin stood at his side on Tuesday and publicly forgave him, a sampling of recent donors suggests others may not be as willing.
“He’s never going to get elected! What a waste,” said Isaac Zafir, who on July 9 gave the maximum allowed, $4,950. “I thought he turned his life around. Obviously not.”
“Why should we trust him? I just wasted about $5,000,” said Zafir, 32, of the Rockaways.
Former Comptroller Bill Thompson joined two of Weiner’s other Democratic primary rivals in urging him to bow out.
“A consensus has emerged across the city, that Anthony should not run — and I agree with that,” Thompson said, following similar comments by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Councilman Sal Albanese. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a front-runner with Weiner in recent polls, stopped short of demanding Weiner quit. But she attacked his “pattern of reckless behavior, consistently poor judgment and difficulty with the truth.”
Editorials in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Daily News said Weiner should leave the race.
Weiner has said he told his wife “everything” before he decided to re-enter politics.
By coincidence, Abedin penned a forthcoming article for Harper’s Bazaar last week — before the latest disclosures — headlined “The Good Wife.” In it, she called him a “better man” since the resignation, and wrote of his run for mayor: “Putting yourself out there comes with a cost.”
Weiner raised $829,000 after announcing his candidacy in May. Donors contacted Wednesday were divided.
Philadelphia lawyer Mark Alan Aronchick said he plans to give more.
“I was personally hurting inside when I was watching them on television, but also feeling like, ‘What’s really new here?’ ” said Aronchick, who gave $1,000 on July 11.
But screenwriter Patti Brecht of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a $35 donor, replied to Weiner’s “I-won’t-quit” email with: “Time for you to quietly disappear. What a disappointment. Get thee to a hospital (not City Hall): You need serious help, my friend.”
With Emily Ngo, Chau Lam and Ivan Pereira
