Sen. Scott Brown admits to being duped by fake bin Laden photos

Amid controversy this week regarding whether the White House should publicly release photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse, several lawmakers claimed to have seen the photographs and attested they did indeed provide evidence of bin Laden's death.

But not so fast.

It seems that at least one senator, Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts, was duped by fake bin Laden photos, Michael Levenson reports for the Boston Globe.

"Let me assure you that he is dead, that bin Laden is dead," Brown told cable station NECN in an interview Wednesday. "I have seen the photos and, in fact, we've received the briefing and we'll continue to get the briefings."

"Listen, I've seen the picture," Brown said in a separate interview with Fox25. "He's definitely dead. And if there's any conspiracy theories out there, you should put them to rest." He described the photos as "gruesome."

But NECN posted a statement on its website Wednesday retracting Brown's assertion: "Senator Brown's office tells NECN this afternoon that the bin Laden photos the Senator mentions seeing about 2 minutes into the clip here were not authentic." And a similar statement appeared after the Fox 25 interview, Levenson reports.

Brown's office has yet to respond to The Globe's request for comment, but fake photos--one in particular of what is purported to be bin Laden's face--have been widely circulated on the internet.

It's unclear if other senators claiming to have seen the photos were actually duped. Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire reportedly claimed Wednesday that another senator showed her the images.

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia also claimed to have seen the images, according to the Nashua Telegraph.

Chambliss and Ayotte's offices did not immediately respond Wednesday evening to The Ticket's inquiries.

UPDATE 6:20p.m. EST: Chambliss' office responded that the senator has not seen the photos. "Clearly there was a miscommunication," spokesman Bronwyn LanceChester wrote in an email to The Ticket.

UPDATE 9:16p.m. EST: Ayotte's office emailed The Ticket the following statement from the senator:

"While I was shown a photo by another senator of what appeared to be a deceased Osama bin Laden, I do not know if it was authentic. However, I do believe a photo of the dead al Qaeda leader should be released. Although some may be upset by the image of someone who has been shot in the head, releasing a photo is important to put to rest any conspiracy theories that may arise around the world and to provide for closure."

(Photo of Brown, right: Stephan Savoia/AP)