Scrutiny of Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, is heating up after new reports alleging that he assaulted former romantic partners, opening another war front in the presidential campaign.
Former friends of Emhoff, 59, told the Daily Mail that Harris’s husband of 10 years has a violent history that shouldn’t be overlooked by voters. According to three sources, Emhoff in 2012 allegedly struck a woman in the face during a dispute outside the Cannes Film Festival, hitting her so hard that she spun around and fell. They claimed to have spoken with the victim after she climbed into a cab, sobbing as she recounted the slap.
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Although the outlet does not name the victim, whom they refer to as “Jane,” the Mail described her as a successful New York attorney who had been dating Emhoff for three months up until that point. Another friend recounted when they were first told about the violent interaction by the victim in 2014 and then again four years later, a time when then-U.S. Senator Harris was garnering headlines for grilling Supreme Court judicial nominee Brett Kavanaugh over allegations that he raped Christine Blasey Ford at a college party decades ago.
Along with their summaries against Emhoff, the three sources provided photographs of him with the alleged victim as well as documented text exchanges confirming some elements of the story. The alleged victim “Jane” declined to comment.
The shocking news that Emhoff may have beaten a romantic partner comes just weeks after previous reporting that he cheated on his first wife, with whom he shares two children, with a babysitter in 2008. The affair is said to have led to the children’s nanny, who was also their grade-school teacher, becoming pregnant. Emhoff admitted to the affair with Najen Naylor after the Daily Mail published its account last month. A close friend told the outlet 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.
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Some of the three friends who claim to have heard about the violent incident between Emhoff and Jane also say that Jane was casually told about the affair by Emhoff, who supposedly added that Naylor accused him of causing her so much stress that she suffered a miscarriage. Emhoff denied that claim to Jane, but he 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.”
