New York congressman denies sending lewd photo from Twitter account

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner denied Wednesday sending a lewd photo from his Twitter account to a 21-year-old woman, as he tried to calm a news media furor that has increased by the day and wasn't put to rest by the New York lawmaker's latest comments.

Weiner also acknowledged he "can't say with certitude" that the photo of a man's bulging underpants wasn't him.

Weiner, who on Tuesday refused to answer questions about the incident, told MSNBC on Wednesday that he did not send the photo and that it was the work of a hacker.

He also said he retained an attorney and hired a private security company to figure out how the prank was pulled off.

The photo was posted Friday and sent to a female college student in Seattle. Weiner was a Twitter follower of the student.

The tweet of the lewd photo first was reported Saturday by BigGovernment.com, a Web site run by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart.

The woman who received the tweet told the New York Daily News that she had never met Weiner, and that there had "never been any inappropriate exchanges" between her and the congressman.

Weiner, 46, is married to Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.