Nicole Gaudiano

USA TODAY

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz is accusing rival Donald Trump of being behind a National Enquirer story claiming private investigators are looking into allegations that Cruz had at least five extramarital affairs.

"I want to be crystal clear: these attacks are garbage," Cruz wrote on his Facebook page. "For Donald J. Trump to enlist his friends at the National Enquirer and his political henchmen to do his bidding shows you that there is no low Donald won’t go. These smears are completely false, they’re offensive to Heidi and me, they’re offensive to our daughters, and they’re offensive to everyone Donald continues to personally attack. Donald Trump’s consistently disgraceful behavior is beneath the office we are seeking and we are not going to follow."

Trump, responding on his Facebook page, wrote that he had "absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it.

"Likewise, I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer and unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence," he wrote. "Ted Cruz’s problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz."

The tabloid, quoting a “political snitch” and rumors in its report today, does not name the women. Political consultant Roger Stone, a former adviser to Trump, is quoted in the story as saying rumors have been “swirling around Cruz for some time,” adding “I believe where there is smoke there is fire. I have to believe this will hurt him with his evangelical Christian supporters.”

Stone, reached via email, told USA TODAY:

“Everything I know about these allegations I heard from credible reporters for the MSM,” he wrote in an email. “I played no role in the placement of the story.”

At a news conference in Wisconsin, Cruz highlighted the quote from Stone in the Enquirer and said it was striking that Stone – whom Cruz described as Trump’s “henchman” -- had for months “been foreshadowing that this attack was coming.”

The hashtag #CruzSexScandal has exploded on Twitter. The topic surfaced on CNN today, when Trump supporter and Boston Herald columnist Adriana Cohen accused Amanda Carpenter, a former Cruz communications director, of having an affair with her former boss, alleging she was among the women "named" in the Enquirer report.

“What’s out there is tabloid trash. If someone wants to comment on it, they can talk to my lawyer,” Carpenter responded. “It’s categorically false. You should be ashamed for spreading this smut. Donald Trump supporters should be held to account for it. I will not be intimidated. I will continue to make my thoughts known about Donald Trump. I’m not backing down.”

After insulting tweet, Cruz tells Trump: Leave my wife 'the hell alone'

The development marked the latest round in an increasingly heated feud between Trump and Cruz, who went head-to-head this week over the treatment of their wives.

Trump blamed Cruz for an ad, published by an unrelated super PAC, that included a suggestive photo of Trump’s wife, Melania. Trump then warned “Lyin’ Ted” via Twitter that he would “spill the beans” – it’s unclear what he meant – regarding Cruz’s wife, Heidi. He later retweeted an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz that another user posted to insult her appearance.

Cruz responded by calling Trump a “sniveling coward."