Did Weiner Ask Porn Star To Lie About Their Relationship?

Did U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner lie at the press conference in which he tried to come clean to the media? If gossip website TMZ is to be believed, he did.

The website — which typically trades in celebrity gossip, says it has obtained a series of e-mails from porn actress Ginger Lee, in which the congressman allegedly urges her to bend the truth about the nature of their social media relationship.

to a series of inappropriate online relationships, cultivated over Facebook and Twitter.

According to TMZ, Weiner reached out to Lee as the media firestorm over his inappropriate Twitter photo erupted to try and convince her to release a statement that he himself had allegedly crafted.

According to the website, Weiner sent the following statement to Lee:

"I have nothing to do with the situation involving Rep Weiner.  I follow his twitter feed.  And for a brief time he followed me.  Much has been made of the fact that I have posted about my admiration for Rep Weiner and his politics.  All I can say about that is that I'm a fan of his.  Rep. Weiner sent me one short direct message thanking me for following him.  I have never met Rep. Weiner and he has never sent me anything innappopriate (sic)" 

Weiner also allegedly offered Lee the use of his PR team, which may be a part of his congressional staff.

When asked directly at Monday’s press conference if he or any member of his staff urged anyone to lie for him, Weiner said no.

If an ethics investigation into Weiner's actions finds that he improperly instructed a member of his staff to help him in a cover-up, he could face disciplinary action