Rep. Anthony Weiner refused to answer questions outside his Capitol Hill office about how a photo of an erect penis covered by boxer briefs ended up on his Twitter account over the weekend.
In a brief gaggle with reporters Tuesday, Weiner was asked directly if the photo was of him, but he refused to say.
“I’m not going to talk about this anymore,” the New York Democrat said. “I think if I was giving a speech to 45,000 people, and someone stood up and heckled in the back, I wouldn’t spend three days talking to him. I’m going to get back to the conversation I care about.”
The tweet, directed at a Washington State woman, was removed from Weiner’s Twitter account shortly after it was posted Friday. He later said his account was hacked.
Weiner, wearing a coat but no tie, gave a variation of the same answer to multiple questions, including why he hired a lawyer and hasn’t asked law enforcement to investigate his allegations of fraudulent access to his account.
“I’ve put out a couple statements over the last couple days. I would refer you to those to answer these questions. I understand you’re doing your job, but I’m going to go back to work,” Weiner said.
Asked by The Daily Caller if he’s concerned about the seriousness of someone hacking into his account, as has been alleged, Weiner only said: “I’m going to return to working on the things I care about.”
Several television crews had been sitting outside Weiner’s office before the congressman made a statement. An aide for Weiner, who refused to give his name, filmed the congressman’s exchange with a hand-held camera.
Skeptics have countered Weiner’s assertion that his account had been hacked or pranked by questioning why he hasn’t asked the FBI or Capitol Police to investigate or why officials with the U.S. House don’t appear to be more alarmed.
A spokesman for the Capitol Police told TheDC they are not investigating the incident.
Salley Wood, a spokesman for the Committee on House Administration, said the committee “regularly issues IT security guidance to help Members keep these sites and their content secure.”
“One of the most important tips for protecting content is proper password management,” she said. “Offices are always advised to maintain complex passwords with high rotation rates.”