A married US congressman has resigned after a half-naked picture and emails that he sent to a woman he met on the internet were published online.

Chris Lee, a Republican who has represented a northwestern district of New York for the past two years, announced he was quitting just three hours after details of his extramarital liaison emerged…

The picture of Mr Lee was published on Wednesday by Gawker, the New York gossip website. The congressman had sent it to a woman appealing for contact on Craigslist, the classified listings site.

In her Craigslist posting, the woman asked for respondents to come forward and prove that not all men were “toads.” In his reply, Mr Lee wrote: “Hi, Hope I’m not a toad :)”

An email exchange between Mr Lee and the woman, who was not named, was also published. The congressman had claimed to be a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist and described himself as a “fit fun classy guy”.

Asked by the 34-year-old woman “so do you always send shirtless pics to women from [Craigslist]?“, Mr Lee responded: “Sorry. It’s all I had”. She replied: “I was only joking”.

The pair then exchanged stories about previous dates. It is unclear whether they met. The woman is said to have cut off contact when she searched the internet for Mr Lee and discovered his true identity.

Proving that a congressman can be as dumb as a high school sophomore who just discovered sexting.