Weiner: ’The Picture Was of Me, I Sent It’
WASHINGTON- New York Rep. Anthony Weiner admitted Monday that he sent a lewd photo from his Twitter account to a young woman. '"The picture was of me, I sent it," he
told a room of reporters in Manhattan.
Weiner said he intended to send the picture as a joke, but "I panicked, I took it down and said that I had been hacked."
The congressman, who said he has no intentions of resigning, admitted to additional, questionable online behavior.
Weiner said he has had "several inappropriate conversations with women I have met online," he approximated that there had been "about six women over the past three years."
Weiner insisted the relationships never moved beyond online interactions. "I have never met any of these women ... I've never had sex outside of my marriage."
The lawmaker said he does not believe that he used government property or congressional time to send these online messages. "I don't believe I did anything here that violates any law or violates my oath to
my constituents."
Earlier Monday, BigGovernment.com, a website run by conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, posted a new photo purportedly from a second woman who said she received shots of a shirtless Weiner.
Breitbart, said the new photo was in a cache of intimate online photographs, chats and email exchanges the woman claimed to have. The website did not identify the woman.
Weiner appeared at a news conference Monday afternoon in New York City, but Breitbart appeared at the venue early, approached the microphone and began taking reporters' questions.
He said, "This is a continuing attempt to blame the messenger ... I'm being accused of being a hacker." Added Breitbart, "I'm here for some vindication."
According to Breitbart's website, another photo showed Weiner on a couch with two cats nearby. The site said Weiner sent the photo using the [email protected] account with the subject line "Me and the pussys."
When pressed by reporters at the Monday news conference, Weiner apologized to Breitbart.
Meanwhile, the celebrity website RadarOnline.com said a woman claimed to have 200 sexually explicit messages from Weiner through a Facebook account that Weiner no longer uses.
Weiner had said his Twitter account was hacked and that he'd hired a lawyer and a private security firm to get to investigate the incident involving the underwear shot. But he could not say for sure if the underwear photo was of him.
The photo purportedly showing Weiner shirtless was reminiscent of a photo of former Rep. Chris Lee, a New York Republican who resigned from office earlier this year after a shirtless photo he sent a woman on Craig's List became public.
"I was embarrassed and I didn't want it to lead to other embarrassing things," said Weiner of his initial denial of the story. "It was a dumb thing to do, to try to tell lies about it because it just led to more lies."
Weiner, 46, married Clinton aide Huma Abedin last July, with former President Bill Clinton officiating. Before that, Weiner had been known as one of New York's most eligible bachelors.
"I love my wife very much, and we have no intention of splitting up over this," insisted the New York congressman.