[Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET]Â U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner said Monday he has sent inappropriate photos to and had inappropriate communications with about six women over the past three years - some after he was married - and says he's "very sorry."
The photos include one - sent on his Twitter account more than a week ago - that he had previously claimed was a result of a hacker's prank, the New York Democrat told reporters Monday afternoon at a New York City hotel.
He said he's made "terrible mistakes and ... hurt the people that I care about the most," but he won't step down from Congress and has no intentions of  separating from his wife.
"I'm deeply regretting what I’ve done, and I’m not resigning," he said.
The women are "generally women that I met on Facebook," Weiner said. He said he never met the women in person, and has never had sex outside his marriage.
Of the photo that got the media's attention late last month - a picture of a man in underwear that was sent on Weiner's Twitter account - he said that he mistakenly tweeted it publicly. "I intended to send (the photo) as a direct message to a woman as part of a joke to a woman in Seattle," he said.
When reporters asked him about it at the time, he said that he was the victim of a hacker and a prank.
"Once I realized I had posted to Twitter, I panicked, I took it down and said that I’d been hacked," Weiner said Monday. "I then continued with that story - to stick to that story - which was a hugely regrettable mistake. This woman was unwittingly dragged into this and bears no responsibility. I'm so sorry to have disrupted her life in this way."
"To be clear, the picture was of me, and I sent it."
He added that he's "deeply sorry for the pain this has caused" to his wife, friends and constituents.
Weiner said whether he would run for re-election is "the last thing on my mind."
Share your reaction to Rep. Weiner's press conference
Earlier in the day, Weiner faced new questions after BigGovernment.com, a site run by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, posted a picture of a bare-chested man that it says a woman claims came from Weiner.
[Posted at 4:16 p.m. ET] U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-New York, is scheduled to address members of the news media late Monday afternoon in a New York City hotel, according to his office.
CNN will have live coverage of the address.
News of Weiner's planned address comes amid more than a week of controversy over photos that are alleged to have come from him or his Twitter account, including one released Monday by BigGovernment.com, a site run by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. The site has posted a picture of a bare-chested man that it says a woman claims came from Weiner.
CNN has been unable to independently confirm that the image is that of the congressman or was sent by him.
As reporters waited for Weiner to make his address Monday afternoon, Breitbart appeared at the hotel, and - apparently at the urging of reporters - took to a podium and spoke to the media, CNN's Mary Snow reported.
The latest photo emerged more than a week after a different photograph - one of a man in underwear - was sent on Weiner's Twitter account. Weiner has said that he didn't send that photo, and that he was the victim of a hacker and a prank.
Another ego-maniac added to the looooong list of other idiots who think ANYONE wants to look at their old emaciated bodies
Yawn. Who cares? Not seeing the importance here. So he likes to flirt with girls on the internet? BERAKING NEWZ!!1 STOP THE PRESSES!! RESIGN RESIGN! PROCESCUTE!!1 rofl.. you people crack me up. There's so many more important things going on and even worse corruption in congress.. this should not be a big deal.
What a feeding frenzy all those reporters, especially at CNN, are having over nothing. What a bunch of sanctimonious loudmouths. They are shocked, shocked, I tell you! If sending a photo of my shorts could keep me out of Congress, I guess I'd better withdraw my candidacy for local dogcatcher. Prudish America.
The lemmings who pretended to believe him last week will claim it doesn't matter this week.
all these politicians are so F'N dumb. How much of an idiot do you have to be to post lewd photos of yourself ONLINE? Obama is the only one of them that has some class and respect for the office. Geez, these recent crop of idiot politicians even makes me miss George W Bush. At least that guy never posted his dong on the interwebs.
The fact that we as a nation care about this and give it attention speaks volumes.
A liberal "takes responsibility" by finally admitting he lied but wants to keep his powerful office and perks. Blackmailable, lying, ethically bankrupt people should RESIGN from congress. What a day in the decline of America.
And, my friends wonder why I have said that I will never waste my time in voting again.
If you're not going to vote, you've lost the right to complain about the results of the elections.
No matter what party he's with it's time for him to leave. Keep im mind We're paying his salary...
he lied to the public which is a breach of trust and ethics. RESIGN OR BE IMPEACHED.
If every politician who lied was kicked out of office, Washington DC would be a very empty place.
So excited for the Daily Show now. How many phallic jokes and puns can one fit into 30 minutes?
Wow, Chris Lee looks like a saint next to this buffoon.
That just goes to show you what integrity these people don't have that are representing us. He needs to resign, because obviously he doesn't know what honesty and integrity are. Two qualities you should have when you represent the people.
And they pay you to represent them.
Since when is honesty and integrity expected of our politicians?
Hesitations 2:6 To err is human, to forgive, divine
Idiot.
Funny but it shouldnt hurt him politically. His actual job performance should. The crazy things people do with their own lives is their own lives.
Good post.