Anthony Weiner Admits To New Lewd Messages

New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has admitted he sent newly revealed explicit photos and texts to a woman whom he met online.

Mr Weiner acknowledged the messages were sent after he had resigned from Congress in 2011 amid a similar sex scandal, but said he would continue with his campaign to become mayor of New York City.

He spoke up about the latest messages after the lewd correspondence was posted by gossip website The Dirty.

"I said that other texts and photos were likely to come out and today they have," Mr Weiner said at a news conference.

"I want to again say that I am very sorry to anyone who was on the receiving end of these messages and the disruption this has caused."

Mr Weiner resigned from Congress in June 2011 after he admitted having sexual conversations with at least half a dozen women.

The latest mishap could severely test voters' willingness to forgive Mr Weiner, who said he has spent the two years since the initial scandal trying to make things right with his wife and earn redemption.

Mr Weiner said he would continue his run for mayor, telling reporters he was asking New Yorkers to "give him a second chance".

The 48-year-old former congressman has been near the top of most mayoral polls since his late entry into the race this spring.

The woman, who was not identified, told the website she was 22 when she began her correspondence with Mr Weiner.

She said the relationship started in July 2012 on the social networking site Formspring and lasted for six months.

She claimed Mr Weiner used the alias "Carlos Danger" for their tawdry exchanges and he later asked her to destroy the evidence of their chats.

Mr Weiner declined to discuss the details of the correspondence.

His wife Huma Abedin, who has played a large - and increasing - role in his mayoral campaign, stood by her husband's side during the news conference before briefly addressing reporters.

"When we faced this publicly two years ago it was the beginning of a time in our marriage that was very difficult," she said.

"It took a lot of work and a whole lot of therapy where I could get to a place to forgive him for that. It was not an easy choice … but it was a decision I made to stay in the marriage."

She added: "Anthony has made some horrible mistake both before and after he resigned.

"I love him. I have forgiven him. I believe in him. And as we have said from the beginning, we are moving forward."

Ms Abedin, a longtime adviser to Hillary Clinton, urged her husband to run for office and has led his campaign fundraising.

"This behaviour is behind me," Mr Weiner said. "I apologised to Huma and am grateful that she has worked through these issues with me and for her forgiveness."

Mr Weiner's problems began on May 28, 2011, when a website run by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart posted a lewd photograph of an underwear-clad crotch and said it had been sent from Mr Weiner's Twitter account to a Seattle woman.

The then-congressman denied he sent the photo, claiming his Twitter had been hacked.

But after more women came forward and more photographic evidence emerged, Mr Weiner admitted he had lied.

He then entered two years of self-imposed political exile only to return this spring.

Two of his mayoral foes - former city councilman Sal Albanese, a Democrat, and billionaire John Catsimatidis, a Republican - quickly called on Mr Weiner to abandon his quest for office.

"Anthony Weiner should do what is right for his family and our city and drop out of the race for mayor so we can end this soap opera," Mr Catsimatidis said.