A US CONGRESSMAN broke down in tears yesterday as he admitted to having several inappropriate relationships with women through social media, a week after he denied that he had sent a lewd picture of his genitals to a follower on Twitter.

He accepted that and other accusations in an extraordinary press conference yesterday in New York.

The New York Democratic congressman, who has served in the House of Representatives for the past 13 years, insisted he wasn’t resigning. He had been expected to run for New York mayor in 2013.

At first, Weiner denied that a photo of his underwear clad genitals sent to 21-year-0ld woman on Twitter was him and appeared to have the support of the woman in question who also denied even knowing the congressman.

But Weiner’s story began to crumble as the week progressed.

Whilst denying that he had sent the picture to his tens of thousands of followers on Twitter, he could not say “with certitude” that the photo was not him in an interview with MSNBC.

But he continued to claim he was the victim of a prank, saying he had hired a private investigator to look into the matter whilst joking that he was a little “stiff” when questioned by reporters about the matter.

Then, yesterday, conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart got hold of a number of incriminating photos (Warning: includes Not Safe for Work images) including a topless shot of Weiner flexing his muscles for the camera with pictures of him with his wife and former US president Bill Clinton in the background.

Recognising his story was falling apart, Weiner came clean to his wife – who is an adviser to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – and others that he had lied to and called a press conference at a New York hotel to explain himself.

But before he took the podium, in an extraordinary turn of events, Breitbart took to the stage to explain the course of events that led to him publishing the latest photos and answered reporters questions, delaying Weiner’s appearance:

When the congressman eventually appeared he issued a teary ap0logy in which he said the word “sorry” some 26 times.

Watch a portion of the press conference here:

The leader of the Democrats in the House, Nancy Pelosi, has called for an ethics investigation into Weiner’s online activities, reports Politico, which adds that this raises the stakes for Weiner who insisted yesterday that he broke no laws or violated no House ethics rules.

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reports that number of the women who Weiner engaged in inappropriate “sexting” and phone calls with have come forward to tell their side of the story.

Back in February, a married Republican US congressman was forced to resign after he emailed a shirtless picture of himself to another woman.