Anthony Weiner: I’m not answering any more questions

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) can’t avoid questions about his Twitter account. (J. Scott Applewhite - AP) After days of confusing statements regarding a lewd image sent from his Twitter account, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said Thursday morning that he is not answering any more questions about the incident.

“This prank has apparently been successful,” Weiner told reporters gathered outside his office. “After almost 11 hours of answering questions, any that anyone wanted to put, today I'm going to have to get back to work doing the job that I'm paid to do.”

Of course, Weiner said on Tuesday that he was “not going to allow this to be what I talk about all week,” only to find himself a day later sitting down for one-on-one interviews with NBC, Fox News, CBS, CNN and ABC. Those interviews did nothing to end the scrutiny, as Weiner refused to say “with certitude” that the photo, which showed an underwear-clad groin, was not of him.

It remains to be seen whether Weiner’s second pledge of silence will quiet lingering questions about the incident.

Weiner is considered a leading candidate in the 2013 New York City mayoral race, but this strange controversy likely has done some damage to his bid.

House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) this morning became the first member of House leadership to weigh in on the incident.

“I think the American people are sick of seeing their elected officials tied up in the scandals like this,” the House Majority Leader said on “Fox and Friends” today. “My advice would be to come clean and clear it up. I mean, perhaps he’s trying, but I know there’s a lot of explaining going on without a lot of clarity.”

Weiner originally said this weekend that his account has been hacked (something experts say is possible), but he did not go to the police. His office is now conducting an internal investigation using an outside firm — although Weiner has not specified the name of the company he has retained..

Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns (R) said he’s written Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "asking her to look into cyber-security...and to assure members of Congress that our Blackberrys, our phones are safe as well as our computers.