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Ex-US Congressman Weiner pleads guilty in teen 'sexting' case

Former US Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner (C) exits federal court in Manhattan after pleading guilty in sexting case on May 19, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by AFP)

A former US Congressman has pleaded guilty in a federal court to one count of sending obscene messages to a minor, leading to a scandal that played a role in last year's US presidential election.

“Today, former Congressman Anthony Weiner admitted and pled guilty to sending sexually explicit images and directions to engage in sexual conduct to a girl he knew to be 15 years old.  Weiner’s conduct was not only reprehensible, but a federal crime, one for which he is now convicted and will be sentenced.  We thank the FBI and the NYPD for their work in this investigation,” said Joon H. Kim, the acting US attorney.

 “I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse,” Weiner said.

Weiner came under FBI investigation following the social media report about his online relationship with a teenager from North Carolina.

The investigation led to the discovery of emails which Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had sent to Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin.

FBI director James Comey testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee eleven days before the presidential election in 2016, that Abedin had regularly passed classified letters to Weiner for him to print out, thus, compromising state security.

However, investigators found Abedin forwarded only a handful of emails to Weiner to print, and she did not make a “regular practice” of doing so.

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Clinton’s team blamed Comey’s decision to release the documents ahead of the presidential voting as the reason for the Democrat’s unexpected loss to President Donald Trump.

This is not the first time Weiner is embarrassing those around him. He resigned from the US Congress in 2011 after another sexting scandal.

At the time, he apologized, vowed to change his behavior, and launched a bid to be New York’s mayor in 2013.


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