(CNN) -- A week after claiming a hacker had posted a lewd photo to his Twitter account, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner on Monday apologized for lying about the ordeal and admitting carrying on inappropriate relationships with several women he'd met online.
Weiner, a New York Democrat, said he is not resigning his seat, nor is he planning on separating from his wife. But he said he took responsibility for his actions -- both the relationships and for lying about sending photos.
"I have made terrible mistakes," Weiner told reporters. "I have not been honest with myself or my family... I should not have done this, and I should not have done this particularly when I was married.
"This was destructive," he added. "It was deeply, deeply hurtful."
Weiner claimed that he didn't believe he used any government resources while sending various photos to women he'd met online, "mostly on Facebook." The congressman claimed that he never met any of the women, with all of the relationships occuring exclusively over the Internet.
Earlier in the day, Weiner faced fresh questions with the release of two new images, including one that appears to show the New York Democrat shirtless.
The images were published on BigGovernment.com, a conservative website run by Andrew Breitbart. The site said the images were sent to an unnamed woman on May 20 via an e-mail address she claims belonged to Weiner.
Before Weiner spoke at his scheduled 4 p.m. press conference, Breitbart -- who claimed he happened to be staying at a hotel few blocks down -- unexpectedly took over the podium to challenge Weiner and the media and defend his site's story.
"This is an ongoing story, this is a compelling story," said Breitbart, bristling at reports he orchestrated the issue for political purposes and was responsible for hacking Weiner's account. "I did not like that he doubled down that this is about Breitbart."
The conversative blogger also claimed that he had, in his possession, another "X-rated" photo allegedly from Weiner that he said he wasn't releasing because he hoped "to save (Weiner's) family."
"I'd like an apology," a defiant Breitbart said. "This was his strategy, which is to blame me for hacking."
During his press conference, Weiner apologized "to everyone that I misled in the media" -- including Breitbart -- but most of all a wife.
"This was me doing a dumb thing, and doing it repeatedly, then lying about it," Weiner said.
Breitbart's website was the first to publish an incriminating photo, sent via Twitter from Weiner's account of a man's bulging underwear.
Weiner initially released written statements claiming that he was the victim of a hacker and a prank. Then, during a testy press conference, he dodged questions about whether the photo was of him and why he hadn't asked law enforcement to investigate if his account had, indeed, been compromised.
The following day, in a series of interviews, he said he could not say with "certitude" if the photograph was of him. He has also deflected recent questions from CNN, saying he's hired an attorney at the firm of Baker Hostetler to look into the matter.
Many Democrats first rallied around the liberal congressman. But members of the House Democratic leadership have talked repeatedly in recent days to try to get him to end what has become an unwelcome political distraction, a member of the party's leadership told CNN.
"It's frustrating because we'll talk to him, and say clean it up, and then he goes out and does stuff," said the member of the House Democratic leadership, who declined to speak on the record about private discussions with Weiner."
"He's got to put the period at the end of the sentence," the Democratic source said. "It's painful."
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