(CNN) - Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee revealed Thursday night that a woman he had tweeted during the State of the Union address was actually his daughter whom he had just learned about three years ago.
The woman, Victoria Brink, 24, had tweeted that she saw him on television Tuesday night during the speech, and he responded saying "ilu," short for "I love you."
"I was extremely proud and happy that she was watching the State of the Union, and so I immediately tweeted her back and told her I was pleased she was watching and that I loved her," the Democratic congressman told CNN affiliate WREG in Memphis in a phone interview.
Cohen later deleted the tweet after realizing that it was public, rather than being sent as a direct message. He then tweeted again, saying "Nice to know you were watchin SOTU(state of the union).Happy Valentines beautiful girl. Ilu."
That tweet was also deleted.
The curious tweets, archived online at the Sunlight Foundation's "Politwoops" website (which stores deleted tweets from politicians), set off questions among some in the media and his constituents.
Following concerns raised about a possible romantic relationship with Brink, a Texas State Student who has also posed as a swimsuit model, the 63-year old Cohen went public Thursday with the news that she was his daughter.
"Today after much discussion she was able to give me the freedom to say that I'm her father, that she cleared it up with the man who's been known as her father," he said.
Asked how he found out about his daughter, the longtime bachelor said he was thinking about her mother one day.
"I Googled her mother and found her mother again. And when I did, I found that she's had a daughter and given birth on a time that would have been a time when we were involved," he said.
When he called her, he added, she told him they had "a lot of catching up to do."
The man who raised her, however, was unaware of the situation, and the family has kept it secret since Cohen found out three years ago. However, he has brought Brink to Washington and the two have spent time in Memphis together, including a trip to Graceland.
In a dual-interview with CBS News and NBC News in his office, Cohen said he introduced Brink as his daughter to President Obama when the pair visited the White House. Brink asked to take two pictures with the president-one including Cohen and one without.
"I knew the reason why she wanted a separate picture was because she might have some difficulty showing the picture with me and who is that guy and maybe to her father," the fourth-term congressman said. "We won't have to do that anymore."
In the network television interviews, Cohen chided some in the media who reported it as a scandalous affair.
"It shocked me that female reporters, in addition to male reporters, did this reporting, which I considered sexist," he said. "My daughter is beautiful and she has a great figure. She has had some opportunities to pose as a swimsuit model, and that's all they could concentrate on."
He showed several recent photos of him with his daughter and the mother, adding that he's "a very proud father." When he looks at pictures of her childhood, he said he regrets that he was never there.
"I think about what I missed not seeing her growing up, and my parents not knowing her. But now I have a child, and I'm very proud of her and it's a good thing."
