Disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife gave an exclusive interview to People magazine today.

Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, who live in Forest Hills, Queens, told the magazine they are trying to recover from last summer’s sexting scandal that cost Weiner his seat in office — and many speculated would cost him his marriage, as well.

But instead, Abedin, who is deputy chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said they are still bound by love.

“He did a really stupid thing,” Abedin, 37, said to the magazine. Abedin is the deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton. “I’m proud to be married to him. It was an extremely painful time. But there was love and a commitment to this marriage.”

“It took a lot of work to get to where are are today, but I want people to know we’re a normal family,” she continued. “Anthony has spent every day since [the scandal] trying to be the best dad and husband he can be.”

Indeed, Weiner said he is solely focusing now on being a good dad to 6-month-old son, Jordan Zane.

“The only next dramatic steps I’m planning on are Jordan’s first,” Weiner told People. He’s now a stay-at-home dad.

“I really do feel like a very, very different person,” he said of the sex scandal. “I’ve had enormous regrets about what I put Huma through and how I let my constituents down. But it’s not like I sit all day replaying it in my mind. With a baby, it is pretty easy to put things into perspective. Things happen for a reason, 2011 was the best year of my life.”

But Weiner was also careful not to rule out a rumor that he is considering running for office — earlier this week it was reported that he is considering running for New York City mayor or public advocate.

“I can’t say absolutely that I will never run for public office, but I’m very happy in my present life,” Weiner told People.

Weiner has reportedly had a hard time finding a job since he held the most humiliating press conference known to man, and resigned last year. Abedin has been pressing him to get a job, according to reports, as well as pressing him to do a tell-all interview.

“Nobody wants to hire Anthony; he can’t find a job,” one political consultant told the New York Post.

“Huma’s panicked he can’t find a job,” said another. “She’s quite angry because no one she thought would help him has helped him.”

‘Muslim infiltration’ claims

In other Huma Abedin news, Sen. John McCain defended her today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, after attacks from Rep. Michele Bachmann that she’s part of an Islamic extremist conspiracy to infiltrate the U.S. government.

In a letter Bachmann wrote to Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison — the full text of which you can read here — Bachmann writes that Huma’s mother, brother and deceased father are ‘connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations.”

Bachmann questions why Abedin, as one of Hillary Clinton’s top aides, was able to receive a security clearance despite having family members that the Congresswoman believes are connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.

“I am particularly interested in exactly how, given what we know from the international media about Ms. Abedin’s documented family connections with the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, she was able to avoid being disqualified for a security clearance,” Rep. Bachmann wrote.

Bachmann, along with four other Republican Congressmen, also asked the inspector generals in the State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice Departments to investigate potential “policies and activities that appear to be the result of
influence operations conducted by individuals and organizations
associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Well, McCain is having none of Bachmann’s allegations.

“Recently,
it has been alleged that Huma, a Muslim American, is part of a
nefarious conspiracy to harm the United States by unduly influencing
U.S. foreign policy, ” he said today on the Senate floor.

“To
say that the accusations made in both documents are not substantiated
by the evidence they offer is to be overly polite and diplomatic about
it. It is far better, and more accurate, to talk straight: These
allegations about Huma, and the report from which they are drawn, are
nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable
citizen, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant … These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis, and no
merit. And they need to stop now.”