Te’o admits he lied 'briefly': ‘What would you do?’

By Colette Bennett

updated 2:19 PM EST, Wed January 23, 2013

NEED TO KNOW

Claims surfaced January 16 that Manti Te'o's inspiring relationship with Lennay Kekua was a hoax
Many questions remain regarding Te'o's knowledge of the situation

Manti Te'o admitted to ABC's Katie Couric that he lied "briefly" about girlfriend Lennay Kekua after finding out she wasn't real.

Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o suddenly found himself back in the spotlight after claims surfaced January 16 that the inspiring relationship he had with a girl who supposedly died of leukemia on September 12 was actually a hoax.

Once details started to emerged, it was clear that the story was so complex, you'd need a bloodhound's nose to properly sniff out answers to all the questions. Why did Te'o continue to reference the girlfriend after he supposedly knew she was fake? Who ran the girlfriend's Twitter account? Is my online boyfriend fake, too?

ABC News now has the first clips from Te'o's interview with Katie Couric, and it looks as if he's admitted to lying "briefly" about girlfriend Lennay Kekua after finding out that she wasn't real.

"Why? Put yourself in my situation," Te'o said. "What would you do?"

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