The Anthony Weiner scandal has brought another questions to the surface of the embattled politician—who paid for his over-the-top wedding? INSIDE EDITION takes a look.
Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin were the picture of carefree bliss on their wedding day, long before the sexting scandal. But now, their 2010 fairytale wedding is coming under scrutiny.
A watchdog group is asking: who paid for it?
The couple was married at Oheka Castle on Long Island's Gold Coast, a sprawling estate with ornate gardens and a grand ballroom. The average wedding there costs $100,000, but could run as much as $250,000 when you include flowers, a band and the hotel rooms which start at $400 per night.
And there were other big ticket items, like Abedin's wedding dress, custom made by Oscar de la Renta. It cost an estimated $50,000 and was even featured in a Vogue magazine spread.
The honored guests included Abedin's boss, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton. The former president actually officiated at the ceremony.
Weiner and Abedin were married just three weeks before Chelsea Clinton's wedding of the year. Chelsea and Abedin shared the same exclusive wedding planner and the same top-notch photographer.
Tom Anderson is with the National Legal and Policy Center, which calls itself a non-partisan watchdog group, although some experts consider them right-leaning. He says Weiner and Abedin simply didn't have the income to pay for their expensive wedding.
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd asked Anderson, "How much do you estimate this wedding cost?"
"We estimated it, low-balling it at $250,000. It could have easily jumped up to $500,000," said Anderson.
As an aide to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Abedin was making $135,000 a year. Weiner's congressional salary, prior to his resignation was $175,000.
Anderson said, "The math doesn't add up. When you go and have a wedding at a castle like you're a prince and princess, that doesn't equate to a government worker's salary. That's the bottom line."
Boyd asked, "Is it possible that one of their parents paid for this wedding?"
Anderson explained, "It's possible. We looked into it, but from what we saw as far as the net-worth of his parents and her mom, we don't see where that money would have come from. But we have some ideas that vendors they used were some of the same vendors Chelsea Clinton used for her wedding which was three weeks later. So, we see some connections there."
A spokesman for Weiner's campaign was adamant that the couple acted appropriately, saying they paid for the entire wedding themselves out of their savings, but Weiner's mother, Francis did pay for the flowers.
Boyd asked Anderson, "You just don't see any way that he could have afforded that on his own?"
"Whenever you see public employees living the lifestyle of jet-set millionaires, red flags pop up everywhere," said Anderson.
