Anthony Weiner admits he sent lewd Twitter photo

After more than a week of denials, Rep. Anthony Weiner admitted Monday that he sent a lewd photo via his Twitter account to a Seattle-area college student—and admitted he had sent similar pictures to six different women over the last three years.

"I came here to accept the full responsibility of what I've done," the New York congressman declared. "I don't know what I was thinking."

But he insisted he would not resign from Congress. Weiner also said he didn't believe that he had been in violation of congressional ethics guidelines. He also said that, should voters in his district decide that his behavior didn't justify his re-election, he would understand that choice, but would "work hard to win back their trust."

Watch video of his press conference below:

The New York congressman's confession came at the conclusion of a bizarre press conference in which conservative activist Andrew Breitbart briefly took the podium. Earlier Monday, Breitbart posted several risqué photos of Weiner that he apparently sent to an unnamed woman. He threatened to release other scandalous photos if Weiner didn't own up to his actions.

Arriving to the podium a short time later, Weiner tearfully offered his "deepest regrets" to his wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton. He admitted he had not told his wife until this morning that the first photo, a shot of Weiner's crotch sent over Memorial Day weekend, was actually him, but said she was aware of other photos he had sent previously.

Weiner had initially insisted his Twitter account had been hacked. But on Monday, the congressman called that photo a "joke"--though he admitted sending similar pictures to women he'd met on Facebook "before and after" he got married last July. But he insisted he had not cheated on his wife, who was not present at the news conference.

"I have never met any of these women or had physical relationships with any of these women," he insisted.

(Screenshot of Weiner via CBS News)