Scrutiny of Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, is intensifying following new reports alleging that he assaulted former romantic partners, creating another contentious issue in the presidential campaign. Former friends of Emhoff, 59, told the Daily Mail that Harris’s husband of 10 years has a violent past that should not be overlooked by voters.
According to three sources, Emhoff allegedly struck a woman in the face during a dispute outside the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, hitting her hard enough that she spun around and fell. They claimed to have spoken with the victim after she got into a cab, where she was reportedly sobbing as she recounted the incident.
Although the outlet does not identify the victim, whom they refer to as “Jane,” the Mail describes her as a successful New York attorney who had been dating Emhoff for three months at the time of the incident. Another friend recounted that they were first informed about the violent interaction by the victim in 2014 and again four years later, during a period when then-U.S. Senator Harris was making headlines for her intense questioning of Supreme Court judicial nominee Brett Kavanaugh regarding allegations that he raped Christine Blasey Ford at a college party decades earlier.
In addition to their accounts against Emhoff, the three sources provided photographs of him with the alleged victim, as well as documented text exchanges that corroborate certain aspects of the story. The alleged victim, referred to as “Jane,” declined to comment.
The startling news that Emhoff may have assaulted a romantic partner comes just weeks after reports surfaced that he cheated on his first wife, with whom he shares two children, with a babysitter in 2008. This affair reportedly resulted in the children’s nanny, who was also their grade-school teacher, becoming pregnant. Emhoff acknowledged the affair with Najen Naylor after the Daily Mail published its account last month. A close friend informed the outlet that Naylor did not keep the baby.
Emhoff confirmed the affair was true, telling CNN in a statement, “During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.” His ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, expressed support for him in her own statement. “Doug and I decided to end our marriage for a variety of reasons, many years ago. He is a great father to our kids, continues to be a great friend to me and I am really proud of the warm and supportive blended family Doug, Kamala, and I have built together,” she said at the time.
Some of the three friends who claim to have heard about the violent incident between Emhoff and Jane also report that Jane was casually informed about the affair by Emhoff, who allegedly mentioned that Naylor accused him of causing her so much stress that she suffered a miscarriage. Emhoff denied that claim to Jane but confirmed that he paid Naylor $80,000 in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement.
MSNBC anchor Jen Psaki interviewed Emhoff last month, asking how he felt about standing out of the spotlight as his second wife stands on the precipice of winning the White House. “I’ve always been like this,” Emhoff said to Psaki. “To me, it’s the right thing to do, support women.”
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