Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., held a hastily arranged news conference today in which he admitted that he sent a lewd photo to a woman online, an accusation that he had been denying since rumors surfaced about 10 days ago, MSNBC.com reported.

The news conference dominated cable news channels Monday afternoon, June 6, 2011, and was picked up live by some broadcast outlets.

According to the MSNBC article, "After days of denials, a choked-up New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed Monday that he tweeted a bulging-underpants photo of himself to a young woman. ‘The picture was of me, I sent it,’ he told a room full of reporters in Manhattan."

The story adds, "Weiner said he intended to send the picture as a joke, but ‘I panicked, I took it down and said that I had been hacked.’ "

Weiner also said he has had “several inappropriate conversations conducted over Facebook, Twitter, email and online with women I have met online,” estimating that there have been “about six women over the past three years.” Additional photos of Weiner were also apparently involved.

Weiner said he has never met any of the women in person.

He said he is not resigning from Congress. "I don’t believe I did anything here that violates any law or violates my oath to my constituents,” he added.

Weiner admitted that he had not been honest with himself, his family, his supporters and the media, that he had made “a hugely regrettable mistake,” and he apologized for his actions. He said he panicked after he realized his mistake and made up a story about being hacked, and then stuck with that story as the media continuously pressed him for answers during the past 10 days.