(CNN) New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker declined on Sunday to comment directly on reports that police believe actor Jussie Smollett paid two men to carry out a hoax assault on himself last month.

Smollett told authorities he was attacked in late January by two men who were "yelling out racial and homophobic slurs." Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Saturday that Chicago Police believe Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the assault on him.

Booker, who is running for president, was one of several Democrats to weigh in on the initial reports of the attack on Smollett, tweeting that it was "an attempted modern-day lynching."

The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I'm glad he's safe.



To those in Congress who don't feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime-- I urge you to pay attention. https://t.co/EwXFxl5f2m — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 29, 2019

Asked as he campaigned in New Hampshire about the recent reports that the attack was a hoax, Booker said, "I'm going to withhold until all the information actually comes out from on the record sources."

In a statement on Saturday night, Smollett's attorneys said the actor denies playing a role in the attack. "(Smollett) has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack," the statement read. "Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."

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