MSNBC reports that:
"Rep. Anthony Weiner [D-NY] said Wednesday that he can't say 'with certitude' whether or not a lewd below-the-belt photo depicted his body, but he insisted that he did not tweet the picture to a 21-year old college student in Seattle, Wash."
Weiner also said he's hired a private security firm to look into what he says was a hacking of his Twitter account and the sending of the photo.
The congressman is doing a series of interviews with the news media this afternoon. We'll update with developments.
Update at 4:35 p.m. ET: Also on CNN, Weiner has spoken at length about the nature of social media and how he feels some news reports have taken things that are just a natural part of that world — such as a direct thank you message that goes out from his Twitter feed when he gets a new "follower" — to imply personal connections that he says really don't exist.
Update at 4:20 p.m. ET: On CNN a moment ago, Weiner said the photo in question "certainly doesn't look familiar to me." He did not rule out that it could be an image of him that was manipulated, though, and also repeated that he did not send it to anyone.
Update at 3:58 p.m. ET:New York's
Daily News says Weiner told it today that "we don't know" if the photo might be of him. "We don't know — and we've asked [a security] firm to look into — whether some of my photos could have been taken, they could have been manipulated."
Update at 3:50 p.m. ET: CBS News says that in its interview with Weiner this afternoon "he evaded questions as to whether the photograph was of him."
"Photographs can be inserted, photographs can be manipulated," he told CBS. "We're trying to get to the bottom of it, but the important thing here is this was a prank made on me."
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