TMZ: Anthony Weiner urged porn star pen pal Ginger Lee to lie

(CBS) - Celebrity news website TMZ claims to have emails sent from Rep. Anthony Weiner to a porn star with whom he had a long-term online relationship, urging her to lie about their contact and even offering his own PR team to help her deal with expected media queries.

Pictures: Anthony Weiner's alleged porn star pen pal

According to TMZ's report, Weiner emailed Lee on June 2, asking if she wanted to "talk to a professional PR type person... I can have someone on my team call."

In an email TMZ says Weiner sent the previous day, he suggests a line Lee might want to feed to the media if they come asking about her relationship with him: "Have a couple of iterations of: 'This is silly. Like so many others, I follow Rep. Weiner on Twitter. I don't know him and have never met him. He briefly followed me and sent me a dm saying thank you for the follow. That's it.'"

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The TMZ article says it's unclear whether the PR assistance Weiner allegedly offered Lee was from his congressional staff or an outside company. Either way, that question and the implication that he urged Lee explicitly to lie about their relationship may present huge hurdles for Weiner as his actions come under scrutiny by the House ethics committee.