A MARRIED US Congressman has resigned after he flirted with another woman and sent her an image of him posing shirtless.

Chris Lee, 46, was a Republican congressman from New York state who was forced to resign after US gossip website Gawker published details of emails he had exchanged with a 34-year-old single woman he met on the classifieds website Craigslist.

Lee used his real name and email address but described himself inaccurately as a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist. He said he was a “fit fun classy guy”, and sent a photograph of himself posing shirtless.

The revelations have forced Lee to resign. In a statement he did not directly refer to the emails but said:

I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all.

Lee was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2008 and was re-elected last November. Whilst in office he had kept a relatively low profile.

The BBC reports that last year a congressional ethics panel launched an inquiry after Lee held a fundraising event within 48 hours of a House of Representatives vote on a financial services regulation reform bill, which he voted against. The panel later dropped the matter.