Homocon Carl DeMaio Hit With Allegations Of Sexual Harassment And Bribery

The US House campaign of San Diego homocon Carl DeMaio was rocked yesterday after a former staffer accused him of sexual harassment and bribery. Via Politico:

At a news conference at his campaign headquarters, DeMaio called the allegations “absolutely untrue” and a “complete lie.” He added that authorities had questioned him and his campaign staff about the harassment claims, concluded they were unfounded and closed the case. DeMaio, 40, said the accuser concocted the story after he was identified as a “prime suspect” in a break-in at DeMaio’s campaign office last spring. “All the evidence that was collected by the police department clearly indicated this individual was the prime suspect, and, it’s unfortunate, but we will continue to allow the district attorney to proceed with her case and weighing the case to prosecute for the break-in of our office,” said DeMaio, a former San Diego city councilman trying to unseat Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) in one of the nation’s most competitive House races.

The former staffer, Todd Bosnich, denies breaking in to DeMaio's office and repeated his charges to Politico.

Bosnich, who worked as policy director on DeMaio’s congressional campaign, also said that on June 2, he taped a 27-minute interview with a conservative San Diego radio station in which he described in explicit detail how, over the course of more than six months of employment, DeMaio became increasingly aggressive in his sexual behavior toward him. The interview, which was conducted with host Mike Slater and obtained by POLITICO, never aired. When Bosnich complained about DeMaio’s alleged behavior to the candidate’s campaign manager, the response was that he shouldn’t have told DeMaio he was gay, Bosnich alleged in the radio interview. Bosnich, who was 28 at the time of the radio interview, said he approached DeMaio on May 18 and told him he needed to quit the race or stop his behavior. The next day, Bosnich said, the campaign manager called him into his office and told him that DeMaio had lost his trust in him. He also said he was offered him $50,000 to sign a nondisclosure agreement. He said he rejected the offer.

A spokesman for DeMaio claims that Bosnich was fired in May for plagiarizing. A report issued by DeMaio's office at that time was found to have been almost entirely copied from the National Journal. The San Diego District Attorney's office has declined to comment about their investigation into the break-in at DeMaio's office. A poll released on Tuesday shows DeMaio leading Democratic incumbent Rep. Scott Peters by three points.