Weiner: He didn't send Twitter photo

WASHINGTON (AP) - New York Rep. Anthony Weiner on Wednesday denied he sent a lewd photo from his Twitter account to a female college student but did little to calm the media storm when he said he couldn't say "with certitude" that the man in the photo wasn't him.

After a combative news conference on Tuesday in which Weiner refused to answer any questions about the incident, the Democratic lawmaker spent Wednesday in a series of media interviews trying to explain the situation. But some answers - and his attempts at humor - only stirred up the situation further.

"We know for sure I didn't send this photograph," the seven-term congressman told reporters in the Capitol. But he told MSNBC he "can't say with certitude" that the waist-down photo showing a man's bulging underpants wasn't him.

Pressed by reporters about whether it was him in the offending photo, Weiner said: "We don't know where the photograph came from. We don't know for sure what's on it."

And then the colorful congressman couldn't resist several double entendres, explaining why he didn't report the alleged hacking to Capitol Police.

"I'm not sure I want to put national, federal resources into trying to figure out who posted a picture on Weiner's website, uh, whatever. I'm not really sure it rises, no pun intended, to that level."

Later, he quipped that maybe the alleged hacking was just "the point of al-Qaida's sword."

Despite his denial, questions still lingered about the incident.

Weiner said he had hired a private security firm to investigate the alleged hacking and an attorney to advise him on what civil or criminal actions should be taken.

"If it turns out there's something larger going on here, we'll take the requisite steps," he told reporters when asked why he hadn't asked for a police probe.