Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner admits tweeting lewd photo, and more

The Democratic congressman from New York admits sending a sexually suggestive photo to a college student and inappropriate contact with other women online. He says he won't resign.

Reporting from Los Angeles and New York—

Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner was a nearly ubiquitous media presence last week, making the rounds of TV news shows to protest his innocence: No, the New York congressman said repeatedly, he did not tweet a sexually suggestive photo of himself from the waist down to a college student. Perhaps his Twitter account had been hacked.

But Monday, in a teary news conference in New York City, Weiner, 46, 'fessed up. He said he had lied repeatedly out of embarrassment and shame. He had indeed sent the photo to the woman in Washington state, and he also had inappropriate online contact with several others over the last three years.

"I did a regrettable thing, and for that I apologize," Weiner said. "I believe what I did demonstrates a deep personal failing."

Weiner, who has long been expected to run for mayor of New York in 2013, said he would not resign, but would let his constituents decide his fate. It was not immediately clear whether congressional Democrats would react as harshly as Republicans did in February when faced with a similar scandal. They pressed New York Rep. Chris Lee to step down after the married congressman sent a cellphone photograph of himself shirtless to a woman he met on Craigslist.

So far, no Democrats have publicly urged Weiner to resign. But House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and other party officials called for an Ethics Committee investigation to determine whether any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred. Weiner, who told reporters that Pelosi had urged him in a phone call to tell the truth and expressed her disappointment in him, said later he welcomed the investigation.