Ted Cruz rejects mistress sex scandal report as 'complete and utter lies' from Trump 'henchmen'

Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has denied a March 23, 2016 report by the National Enquirer that claims he has been involved in extramarital affairs with as many as five women. Texas senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has denied a March 23, 2016 report by the National Enquirer that claims he has been involved in extramarital affairs with as many as five women. Photo: National Enquirer Still Photo: National Enquirer Still Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Ted Cruz rejects mistress sex scandal report as 'complete and utter lies' from Trump 'henchmen' 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday adamantly rejected rumors of his extramarital affairs as "garbage" and "complete and utter lies."

The alleged scandal surfaced Friday morning in an unsubstantiated report from The National Enquirer tabloid, which cited an anonymous "Washington insider" who said Cruz had slept with five women. It quickly claimed the top spot in Twitter trends.

"It is a tabloid smear and has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen," Cruz said at a press conference in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he is campaigning ahead of an April 5 primary vote. "This garbage does not belong in politics."

New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer reported in October that Trump had been friends for years with Enquirer CEO David Pecker. Cruz noted that relationship in his conference Friday.

Trump responded with a statement. He said, "I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week's issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it."

"I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer," Trump said.

The tabloid is perhaps best known for breaking news of a similar scandal in 2007 that derailed the political career of former Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John Edwards. It also famously published a scandalous photo that sealed the doomed fate of Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart in 1988.

Friday on CNN, Boston Herald columnist and Trump supporter Adriana Cohen accused former Cruz campaign communications director Amanda Carpenter of being one of the unnamed women highlighted by the Enquirer story.

"What's out there is tabloid trash. If someone wants to comment on it they can talk to my lawyer," Carpenter said. "It is categorically false. You should be ashamed for spreading this kind of smut."

Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson was also widely identified by Internet users as one of the women highlighted in the Enquirer piece. In a tweet, she called the story "100% false."

What's worse? People who actually believe the trash in tabloids, or the ones who know it's false &spread it anyway? #stupidity on all levels — Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) March 25, 2016

On Wednesday, Trump threatened in a tweet to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife Heidi, generating suspicion that he had anticipated the Enquirer report.

"It's not surprising that Donald's tweet occurs the day before the attack comes out," Cruz said Friday.