As a fractious and often sordid presidential campaign reaches its denouement, Hillary Clinton may be reflecting upon the grim irony that it is Anthony Weiner who has provided what could be the final, miserable twist.
Weiner’s predilection for sending sexually laden text messages derailed his career in Congress and his chances of becoming mayor of New York City, but his soap-opera-style re-emergence in the 11th hour of the presidential race may yet trigger the greatest political carnage of all.
His appearance comes in an election already defined by allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour by Clinton’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, and by the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
On Friday, Clinton called on the FBI to “immediately” explain its announcement that it was reviewing a new batch of emails relating to her, after a review of her use of a private email server was closed in July.
Then, the FBI director, James Comey, said Clinton had been “extremely careless” in her use of a private server while secretary of state, but said there were no grounds for a criminal investigation.
On Friday, he said in a letter to members of Congress that the bureau would analyze newly discovered emails that “appear to be pertinent to the investigation”. Republicans were quick to characterise the move as a “reopening” of the investigation into Clinton’s server, a description Democrats rejected.
It was later reported that the new emails came from an iPad, cellphone and laptop seized by the FBI and previously shared by Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide.
Clinton’s campaign and the Obama administration have been left bewildered by the latest FBI intervention, less than two weeks before the election, with Weiner’s involvement rubbing salt into the wound.
John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, said: “Director Comey’s letter refers to emails that have come to light in an unrelated case, but we have no idea what those emails are and the director himself notes they may not even be significant.
“It is extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from a presidential election.”
Vice-president Joe Biden was more direct, telling CNN’s Michael Smerconish in an interview broadcast on Saturday: “Well, oh God, Anthony Weiner. I should not comment on Anthony Weiner. I’m not a big fan. I wasn’t before he got in trouble.”
Weiner is being investigated by the FBI and police in North Carolina over text messages sent to a 15-year-old girl. In the wake of the latest allegations against him, Abedin, who has herself been a target for criticism from Republicans for some time, separated from Weiner. She has continued in her role as Clinton’s closest ally on the campaign trail.
Once seen as a rising Democratic star, Weiner was forced to resign from Congress in 2011 after he sent a picture of his penis, clad in his boxer shorts, to a 21-year-old student via Twitter. After he initially denied involvement in the messages, further pictures sent by Weiner emerged and he stepped down, at the urging of Barack Obama.
A redemptive quest to become mayor of his hometown, New York City, gained traction in 2013, with several polls showing he had a decent chance of beating the longtime Clinton ally Bill de Blasio, the man who would eventually get the Democratic nomination and win the election in a landslide.
However, Weiner’s campaign was wounded after he admitted that a self-taken picture of his penis, which appeared on the internet, was in fact his. Weiner had sent the picture to a 22-year-old woman he made contact with after leaving Congress, using the now infamous alias “‘Carlos Danger” in his interactions with her.
In a statement at the time, Weiner said: “I said that other texts and photos were likely to come out, and today they have. These things that I did were wrong and hurtful to my wife and caused us to go through challenges in our marriage that extended past my resignation from Congress.
“This behavior is behind me. I’ve apologized to Huma and am grateful that she has worked through these issues with me and for her forgiveness.”
Abedin initially spoke in defense of Weiner but the former congressman’s election hopes were further tarnished after he admitted sending sexually explicit messages to several other women. Another low point arrived when Weiner was continually asked “What is wrong with you?” during an excruciating live interview with the MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell.
As shown in an eponymous fly-on-the-wall documentary released earlier this year, Weiner refused to bow out of the race despite the anguish of his staff and Abedin, who often looked on in silence as her husband attempted to extricate himself from the scandal.
Weiner was subjected to taunts from the public and became embroiled in a two-minute argument with a Jewish voter who had criticized his marriage “to an Arab”. Weiner retorted: “You’re my judge? What rabbi taught you that?”
Weiner’s campaign ended in high farce. The candidate was crushed with just 4.9% of the vote and was forced to dodge Sydney Leathers, a woman who said she had received sexual messages from him, while giving his concession speech.
The Weiner documentary showed the candidate scrambling through a McDonald’s restaurant to enter the adjoining building for his speech in order to avoid Leathers, who was waiting outside as part of a media stunt.
Abedin, who has become an increasingly public figure in her own right as Clinton’s top aide, announced her separation from Weiner in August “after long and painful consideration and work on my marriage”. Weiner and Abedin have a young son.
The split was expected to mark the end of the saga but, in what Clinton will view as a cruel irony, Weiner’s communications have become an issue again at the worst possible time for the former secretary of state.
While there is no evidence the emails involve Clinton as a sender or recipient, the new investigation has allowed Donald Trump to pounce. Last year, the Republican nominee said Weiner was a “perv” and a security risk due to his proximity to Clinton, through Abedin.
On Friday, a gleeful Trump told a rally that the welcomed the new FBI investigation and that the system “might not be as rigged as I thought”. The developments have helped bolster Trump at a time of plummeting poll numbers that have provoked wild, unproven claims by the real estate tycoon that the election is being fraudulently taken from him.
The 2016 election now faces the prospect of being defined by the sexual behaviour of three men: Trump, Weiner and Bill Clinton.
Trump, who has appeared with women who accuse former president Clinton of inappropriate sexual behaviour, has been accused by several women of making unwanted advances and has boasted on tape and on camera of grabbing women by the genitals and getting away with it, due to his wealth and fame.