Rep. Anthony Weiner told NBC that he could not say with certitude that a photo sent from his Twitter account depicting a bulging crotch was not of him, although he denied sending it.

Weiner has blamed the salacious tweet on a hacker and retained an attorney to investigate the matter. The young woman the tweet was directed to charged that she was being harassed by someone trying to smear the congressman. Weiner has tried to downplay the incident, although he held a press conference in which he was evasive when asked whether or not he had sent the photo.

This is not a national security matter, he told NBC. We are not making a federal case out of this and I don't think anyone else should.

When news first broke of the lewd tweet Weiner's staff immediately disavowed it, although they shored up their legal team.

We've retained counsel to explore the proper next steps and to advise us on what civil or criminal actions should be taken, spokesman Dave Arnold said. This was a prank. We are loath to treat it as more, but we are relying on professional advice.

For his part, Weiner has taken the incident in good humor. A prolific Twitter user, he composed a tweet wondering if technology, including his toaster, was plotting against him. He told Politico that the wiener gags never get old, I guess.

Twitter Twitter Twitter New York