Watch live video of the press conference here.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has scheduled a 4 p.m. ET press conference in New York City following the publication by conservative media guru Andrew Breitbart of a set of photos allegedly depicting a shirtless Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) that were allegedly emailed by Weiner to an female admirer. The Weiner press conference also comes after reports in the Star tabloid and Radaronline.com that another woman had provided them with a series of sexually oriented texts between herself and the married Weiner from earlier this year.
The new allegations — albeit from questionable sources — comes after 10 days of Weiner denying that he’d sent another woman a picture of his underwear-encased crotch via Twitter late one night two Friday’s ago. Weiner claimed it was a prank and that someone had hacked his Twitter account. Weiner, however, had left open the possibility that the photo in question could actually be of him.
Breitbart has a history of airing false and misleading allegations, including heavily edited videos, raising the issue of the photos context and credibility. But they raise fresh questions for Weiner, who has spent the last week struggling to explain how a photo depicting a man’s groin was publicly sent from his Twitter feed to a college student’s account. A spokesman for Weiner did not immediately return requests for comment.
Breitbart told the New York Times that his source would reveal herself and explain how she obtained the photos in greater detail by tomorrow. In addition, the Times reported that ABC News has interviewed a woman, possibly the same person, who has also supplied photos she claims came from Weiner.
“If we have a story to publish, we’ll publish it,” an ABC News source told TPM. “Then everyone can talk about it.”
Weiner told reporters last week that he is not sure whether the initial Twitter photo depicts his own body, but denied sending it, saying he was hacked. The recipient issued a lengthy statement to The New York Daily News denying a relationship with Weiner. But significant outstanding issues remain for Weiner: he has not explained the nature of the alleged hack or referred the crime to any local or federal authorities, instead using his own firm to investigate.
In addition to the topless photos, Breitbart posted photographs that appear to depict Weiner posing with his cats and a sign that says “Me,” which he says were sent to the same person who supplied the shirtless photos.
Reached on his cellphone by a reporter for The New York Times on Monday, Mr. Weiner said, “I’ll have to call you back,” before hanging up..
Weiner is married to Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. One of the most prominent Democrats in the House, Weiner has long been considered a serious candidate for mayor of New York City in 2013 should he choose to run.
