Calif. GOP House candidate fires back at harassment claims

Former San Diego City Council Member Carl DeMaio (R) pushed back against sexual harassment claims leveled by a former staffer, calling them an “outrageous lie.”

{mosads}DeMaio, an openly gay Republican locked in a tight race against Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), said that staffer was the man suspected by police of breaking in and trashing his campaign office in late May.

That staffer is reportedly accusing DeMaio of sexual harassment and attempted bribery. DeMaio said the accusations are an attempt to deflect from the break-in and that the staffer had been fired after plagiarizing parts of DeMaio’s policy positions from other publications. He said during the press conference that San Diego’s police chief had investigated the former staffer’s claims and had determined they were unfounded.

“This is par for the course in politics,” DeMaio said. “If an individual does something wrong, they will continue to make up something, and I think that is pretty shameful. But our campaign has been very, very confident that this individual will be held accountable for their actions.”