And while there has been much praise of Abedin's handling of her first press conference this week, after it was reported that Weiner sent crotch pictures to other women more than a year after he resigned from Congress, she doesn't quite have the halo she once did. Slate's Dave Weigel points out that six years of news coverage of Abedin has remarkably focused on rave reviews of her physical appearance. ("Her appearance is just like, ‘Hoh my God!’ She takes your breath away," James Carville said. "[T]he women in our office definitely watch what Huma wears," Philippe Reines, who later worked as Clinton's spokesman, said.) The two main non-fashion things she's known for — standing by her husband and cashing in on Washington connections — are pretty "ordinary," Weigel says.

It's in the latter category that Abedin still shines. As The Washington Post reported on Thursday, friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton generally felt that "if you wanted to stay in Hillary’s good graces, you answer the call from Huma." So they donated to Weiner's mayoral campaign. And they still are! At least, as long as Abedin sticks by him, the New York Post reports:

“If you look at the contributors to Anthony around the country, they weren’t giving for Anthony — they were giving for Huma,” the source said. “For many people, Huma is the gateway to Hillary. She’s one of the closest aides; she’s an adopted daughter. You think [power agent] Bob Barnett would give to Anthony? [Billionaire] Haim Saban wouldn’t give Anthony a second chance.”

But Clinton's biggest donors haven't bothered with Weiner, the Post says. That's because they ties to Hillary are already close enough.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.