Anthony Weiner avoids denying racy pic is of him
"I don't know her and she doesn't know me," said New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. "She says she didn't get it and I didn't send it."
Congressman Anthony Weiner was adamant Wednesday, saying he did not post a suggestive photo of a man in grey underwear. But he was far less clear about the origins of the photo, sent from his Twitter account Friday night, reports CBS News Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes.
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"Congressman, I think the main question people are asking is, was this a picture of you," Cordes asked the Weiner.
Weiner: Well the main question that a lot of people are asking is, 'Did I send the photograph?' I did not, this was a prank, a hoax.
Cordes: So it sounds like it was a photo of you.
Weiner: Well we're going to try to find out exactly what happened. The photograph does not look familiar to me, but before I say anything I want to make sure nothing was manipulated about it, that something wasn't dropped into my account.
Cordes: I think any normal person could say with certainty whether a picture was of them or not. Whether they had taken a photo like that.
Weiner: Well you know John Stewart may have had it right last night. That the picture didn't look like me for embarrassing reasons.
It was the late night mockery and testy exchanges with reporters that convinced Weiner to reverse his pledge not to discuss the matter.
Pictures: Anthony Weiner lewd photo flap on Twitter
Anthony Weiner tries to move on from Twitter incident
Weiner isn't sure who's behind the prank.
"I don't know, I, I, I do have someone that I've asked, a few professionals, to come in and look at this stuff for big firms," he said.
But many have questioned why the liberal New Yorker -- who has called for tougher cybersecurity laws -- did not ask Capitol police or the FBI to look into it.
"I don't believe that this is a capital crime," declared Weiner. "I believe that this is a bit of mischief. And I'm treating it that way."
While it's causing more mischief for Weiner, he doesn't think U.S. tax payers should pay the cost.
"It's causing mischief but that doesn't necessarily mean that I ask the tax payers of the United States of America to undergo a big investigation on who posted a silly picture on my Twitter page," said Weiner.
Congressman Weiner is now asking for privacy and so is the woman the tweet was addressed to. She has taken to, of all places, Twitter to insist the two of them have absolutely no relationship.
