Anthony Weiner admits sending explicit photo; says he had multiple online relationships
By Brian Montopoli Topics Congress
Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York admitted Monday that he posted a photograph of his bulging crotch on Twitter, saying he had lied when he previously characterized the photograph as a prank but that he would not resign his seat.
"The picture was of me, and I sent it," he said.
He also said he had several "inappropriate conversations" that he described as "explicit in nature" with six other women over three years - including after he married his wife, Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He said he had not met any of the women. "I have made terrible mistakes that have hurt the people that I cared about the most, and I am terribly sorry," said Weiner, who held back tears as he made his comments. He added: "I am deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment and my actions."
"If you're looking for some kind of deep explanation for this, I don't have one except to say that I'm very sorry," he said. Weiner said he and his wife "have no intension of splitting up over this" and that he had not had sex outside of year-old marriage.
"I love her very much, and she loves me," he said, adding: "I am deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife Huma, and my family." Weiner called his wife "a remarkable woman." "She's not responsible for any of this," he said. "This was visited upon her. She's getting back to work, and I apologize to her very deeply."
Weiner said he sent the initial photograph as "part of a joke," and that he deleted it in a panic after he realized it had been sent to the public. He said his decision to lie to the public was a mistake.
"I was trying to protect my wife, I was trying to protect myself from shame, and I really regret it," he said. He said she knew about some of the online relationships before they were married.
Weiner, who before the scandal was seen as leading candidate to become the mayor of New York City, said he did not believe he had broken the law and planned to keep his job on Congress.
"I'm not resigning, and I'm going to try very hard to go back to work a better man and a better husband too," he said.
Weiner said doesn't believe he used government resources in sending the messages, and that his staff did not know he had done so.
Conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart published a series of alleged photographs of the congressman Monday that he said Weiner emailed to an unidentified young woman, including a shirtless photograph. In addition, tabloid website RadarOnline.com posted a sexually explicit Facebook exchange allegedly involving Weiner and an unidentified woman that the website claimed took place in March.
Last week, a photograph appeared in Weiner's Twitter feed showing a bulging crotch in grey underwear. Weiner said the photograph was "a prank, a hoax" but did not deny that the picture was of him. Breitbart alleges that Weiner used a personal Yahoo email account to send that same photo to another woman.
Breitbart effectively hijacked Weiner's press conference before it began, saying he was there "coincidentally" and was staying at a nearby hotel. (He was asked to take the podium by reporters present for the event after speaking to a small group in the back of the room.) He said he has "at least one more photo" of Weiner, which he describes as "x-rated," though he said in response to a question from CBS News that he does not intend to release it because he wanted to "save his family."
"I'm trying to do the decent thing and not release the photo," he added, though he suggested he could reconsider depending on Weiner's comments and actions going forward.
"I've seen a lot of the congressman's body," said Breitbart, who answered questions for about 12 minutes. "He is in very good shape."
Breitbart asked Weiner and members of the liberal blogosphere to apologize "for a blame the messenger strategy" in the wake of the release of the initial photo. Breitbart also complained that the mainstream media has repeatedly questioned his credibility over his role in edited video controversies involving Shirley Sherrod and the ACORN undercover stings.
"I'm here for some vindication," he said. Appearing exasperated, Breitbart denied he was out for any sort of revenge and seemed incredulous that his motives were being questioned.
"How is it revenge? The story played itself out in real time. There was zero pre-meditation in this," he said.
Both House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi denied requests for comment on Weiner's situation Monday.
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