Weiner again tries to move on from twitter scandal
A day after doing at least six television interviews, New York Congressman Anthony Weiner is reverting to his initial pledge not to dwell on what he calls a "prank."
Weiner informed the journalists camped outside his office this morning that "After almost 11 hours of answering questions, any that anyone wanted to put, today I'm going to have to get back to work doing the job that I'm paid to do."
But Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor indicated the matter is far from settled. "My advice would be to come clean and clear it up," Cantor said this morning on Fox and Friends this morning. "Again, perhaps he's trying, but I know there's a lot of explaining going on but without a lot of clarity."
Weiner told CBS yesterday that the closeup of a man's bulging gray underwear "doesn't look familiar" to him, but would not rule out the possibility that it was him. When asked how he could possibly not know whether the intimate photo was him or not, Weiner replied, "Before I say anything I want to make sure that nothing was manipulated about it ...something wasn't dropped into my account or taken out," Weiner said. He said he is reluctant to ask federal authorities to investigate an act that he considers "mischief" and nothing more.
CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford said if he's not pursuing official assistance in this situation, it's about not getting wrapped up official statements. Read more.House Speaker John Boehner was asked this morning whether the House Ethics Committee should look into the matter. "I think you'll have to talk to Representative Weiner about his issue," said Boehner, who was clearly loathe to comment on the bizarre incident which took place Friday night.
The tweet in question was sent from Weiner's Twitter account to his 45,000 followers and quickly removed. Weiner says he was the one who noticed the offensive tweet and deleted it, because he was Tweeting about a hockey game at the time. He says he has retained a lawyer and computer experts to examine what happened and determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted.
