DeMaio called the allegations “absolutely untrue” and a “complete lie.” DeMaio denies harassment claims

A high-profile Southern California congressional race descended into chaos on Wednesday when Republican Carl DeMaio was peppered with questions from reporters about whether he had sexually harassed and then intimidated and attempted to bribe a former campaign staffer.

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.

( Also on POLITICO: GOP hopeful: 'A proud gay American')

In a telephone interview with POLITICO later in the day, a San Diego man named Todd Bosnich said that he was the former staffer making the harassment claims. He denied that he broke into the campaign office.

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.

( Also on POLITICO: Polls: GOP leads key Senate races)

Bosnich told POLITICO he was uncertain why the interview didn’t air and that he was disappointed that it hadn’t. Officials at the radio station, 760 KFMB, as well as Slater did not respond to requests for comment.

Speaking on Wednesday, Bosnich said, “I stand 100 percent behind the interview I gave to Mike Slater.”

Dave McCulloch, a DeMaio spokesman, declined to answer specific questions about Bosnich’s accusations. But he said that Bosnich had been fired because he had plagiarized while working on the campaign. In May, shortly before Bosnich’s tenure on the campaign came to an end, National Journal published a report asserting that DeMaio had released a study on pension reform that had lifted language from one of the publication’s earlier articles.

McCulloch also alleged that Bosnich “only made these false allegations after the San Diego Police Department started investigating him as the suspect for the campaign office break-in,” which occurred on May 28 and resulted in significant damage to equipment.

( Also on POLITICO: House homestretch: 5 key dynamics)

A spokesman for the San Diego County District Attorney’s office, Steve Walker, did not respond to a request for comment. Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Mayer provided this statement to the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Reports of any criminal activity received by the San Diego Police Department are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. Once an investigation is complete, it is turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for review at which point we do not provide further comment about the names of potential victims, witnesses or alleged suspects.”

Maggie Haberman and Kevin Robillard contributed to this report.