Anthony Weiner confessed that he sent obscene pictures of himself to admirers over Twitter then lied about being the victim of hackers when he was caught
Anthony Weiner confessed that he sent obscene pictures of himself to admirers over Twitter then lied about being the victim of hackers when he was caught
An indignant Anthony Weiner tried to dismiss it as a prank that played on his surname.
When a photograph of a man's underpants complete with a bulging crotch was sent from his Twitter account to a college student in Seattle, the New York Democrat vehemently denied he had sent it, claiming his account had been hacked or hijacked.
Anthony Weiner insisted that he would not resign as he broke no laws last night at a press conference
"When you're named Weiner, it kind of goes with the territory," he had said, feigning good humour in one of several interviews last week in which he tried to douse the controversy.
"Obviously, somebody got access to my account: that's bad. They sent a picture that makes fun of the name: Weiner. I get it. You know, touche Dr Moriarty, you got me."
He insisted: "I can definitively say I did not send this."
On Monday, as evidence was emerging of a series of lewd dispatches emanating from Weiner's Twitter and Facebook accounts, the congressman finally confessed to having sent explicit photographs to at least six women over several years. This had continued after he married Huma Abedin, a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton, last year.
Teary confession
In a teary confession to reporters, the 46-year-old admitted trying to cover up the scandal, which broke last month, apologising for his actions. While admitting to a "deep weakness", for which he may seek therapy, he insisted he would not be resigning, and had not broken any law.
"I have made terrible mistakes that have hurt some of the people I care about most. I apologise to my wife and our family. I am deeply ashamed of my judgment and terrible actions."
He admitted sending the now infamous "bulge" picture to the student, one of 67,000 people who were following him on Twitter and with whom he had "a cursory message exchange". He had meant to send it as a direct message as part of a joke.
"Once I realised I posted it to Twitter, I panicked," he said. "I took it down and said that I had been hacked. I then continued with that story, to stick to that story, which was a hugely regrettable mistake."
He added, "I regret not being honest about this. I was embarrassed: I was trying to protect my wife and to protect my family."
Net relationship
At the same time, a TV news report was identifying a 26-year-old single mother from Texas, Meagan Broussard, as having received the same picture as part of a month-long electronic relationship with the politician.
She offered dozens of photos, e-mails, Facebook messages and mobile phone call logs as evidence, saying Weiner's jaunty messages would ask how she was, but also what she was wearing "you know, in the bedroom, that sort of thing".
News of Weiner's risque Tweets was broken by blogger Andrew Breitbart, who has pasted some of the photos on his biggovernment.com website.
Weiner faces an ethics investigation and could be forced to quit if it is shown that he used his taxpayer-funded office and mobile phone to send the lewd shots.
Porn star Liaison
Disgraced Anthony Weiner told a former porn star how to lie in order to cover up their online sexual relationshipu00a0 even offering her PR help from his team, according to reports.Weiner told the porn actress Miss Ginger Lee to deny that they'd been sending each other sexual e-mails.
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