Weiner says hacking claim was a lie

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) admitted Monday that earlier claims his Twitter account was hacked last Friday were a lie. 

"Once I realized I had posted it to Twitter I panicked, I took it down, and said that I had been hacked," Weiner said at a press conference in New York. "To be clear the picture was of me and I sent it."

In actuality, Weiner had committed one of the classic errors of the micro-blogging platform: tweeting a message that was intended to be sent as a direct message. Direct messages are private messages that can only be sent to a user to one of their followers.

The mistake is not uncommon; one notable instance involved ESPN columnist Bill Simmons accidentally breaking the news of the trade of receiver Randy Moss from the New England Patriots to the Minnesota Vikings in October.

The incident will likely increase already intense scrutiny of how politicians use social media. Weiner said he met several women on Facebook and conducted online relationships with them for as long as three years, before and after his wedding.

Most lawmakers tend to follow one of two strategies on Twitter: reciprocating by following every follower back or only following a select few other lawmakers and personal acquaintances. Those that choose the latter will likely have to pay closer attention to who follow publicly.

As recently as last Wednesday Weiner claimed he had been hacked, but tellingly hedged when asked if he would report the incident to authorities for investigation. In contrast, the FBI is investigating claims that senior government officials were targeted as part of the recent Gmail phishing scheme.

On Monday he was contrite, repeatedly taking responsibility for what he termed a "personal failing" and apologizing profusely to his wife Huma. Weiner claimed he had broken no laws and had used his personal BlackBerry and computer to conduct the conversations.

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