Aides to the Republican speaker of the Ohio House say his Twitter account was hacked by a person who tweeted support for liberal causes.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that in other phony posts Speaker William Batchelder appeared to criticize Republican Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sihk) or promote former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.

House Republican caucus spokesman Mike Dittoe says someone who follows Batchelder on Twitter noticed the tweets Monday night. A GOP attorney had the company eliminate the messages.

News of the breach comes amid a media storm surrounding a lewd photo sent from the Twitter account of a Democratic congressman from New York, Anthony Weiner (WEE'-nur).

Batchelder told the Dispatch he was unaware he had a Twitter feed. Dittoe says it's maintained by caucus staffers to get messages out.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com