NEW YORK – Are the fingerprints of Donald Trump's official national campaign spokeswoman on the National Enquirer's Ted Cruz "sex scandal" tale?

That is the question prompted by Katrina Pierson in a tweet posted Feb. 8, in which she appears to be encouraging another media outlet to go with the uncorroborated rumors more than a month before the sensational tabloid.

WND and other news outlets were offered unverified reports alleging multiple affairs by the candidate as early as last November by independent researchers in Texas.

For months it remained the buzz of Washington insiders, political reporters and campaign operatives. It lacked just a few things – legitimate sources, authoritative substantiation, credible witnesses.

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From there the story was shopped to the Marco Rubio presidential campaign and various other news organizations.

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But tweets captured by WND suggest the story was encouraged for publication in Breitbart.com by Pierson, the former aide to Cruz and now official campaign spokesman for Trump. Pierson was suspected of being one of five women the National Enquirer alleged had a relationship with Cruz. She quickly denied the allegation.

Here's the chain of events leading to Pierson's involvement:

On Feb. 4, Breitbart London columnist Allum Bokhari authored a re-tweet saying, "This guy is getting warm though," linking to a previous post by "[email protected]," addressed to Bokhari that posted the following apparently mock headline: "SHOCKING: Ted Cruz's Explosive Dark Secret Revealed by Breitbart."

A second tweet by Allum Bokhari, also dated Feb. 4, said in response to this exchange: "Been told it's a few more days before we can drop the new Cruz goss (sic). Nothing I can do :( "

In response, four days later, Pierson tweeted this question to Bokhari at his Twitter address @LibertarianBlue: "Why so long!!??"

On March 25, after the National Enquirer published the allegations that were followed by strong denials from at least three of the principals involved, Bokhari tweeted, "I hate getting scooped."

The same day, Pierson posted a tweet in which she denied having a sexual relationship with Cruz, writing: "Of course the National Enquirer story is 100% FALSE!!!! I only speak to myself, however. Carry on ..."

Pierson's last tweet appeared to imply that she was denying a sexual relationship between herself and Cruz, but was leaving the door open that other women may have been involved.

Asked by WND why she seemed to be pushing a story she later denied was true, Pierson claimed it was a misunderstanding. She asserted that she was actually tweeting Bokhari about a different story – his "scoop" on Ted Cruz's favorite "My Little Pony" cartoon character – a story published by Breitbart.com a month later.

She provided Twitter links and suggested WND check its dates.

"This tweet was in response to the writers 'bombshell' about his 'My Little Pony' article that followed my tweet," she responded by email to WND. "This has nothing to do with the alleged 'sex scandal' that occurred after the fact."

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But the time stamps on those tweets provided by Pierson are from a month later than her exchange with Bokhari. Asked about that discrepancy, Pierson responded: "I am maintaining that my tweet was in no way connected to the alleged 'sex scandal' to which you have eluded (sic) and, in fact, supported by the actual article published by the writer in response to many who were curious about his bombshell' that was ultimately about 'My Little Pony,'" she asserted in an email to WND. "There was no engagement after that fact."

Once again, here's the time sequence:

On Feb. 4, Bokhari tweets about a possible Breitbart scoop regarding Cruz, saying it will be a few more days.

On Feb. 8, Pierson tweets what appears to be encouragement to Bokhari to go with the story, with question, “Why so long?” This tweet came one week after the Iowa Caucuses won by Cruz and one day before the New Hampshire primary, won by Trump.

On March 25, Bokhari tweets that he "hates getting scooped" in reference to the publication of the story by the National Enquirer.

The same day, Pierson tweets her denial of any involvement in the rumored "sex scandal."

Not until March 7 does Bokhari begin series of tweets about the "My Little Pony" so-called "scoop."

There are no tweets by Bokhari about the "My Little Pony" column, published March 7, prior to that date.

That begs the question of how Pierson was tweeting to him eagerly about the story a month earlier.

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Pierson, a former Dallas-area Tea Party leader, was appointed national spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. She had been an adviser to Cruz's 2012 Senate campaign. In 2014, she challenged Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in a Republican primary. The Dallas Morning News carried a story during that campaign of her arrest and plea of no contest to shoplifting charges 17 years earlier at the age of 20.

The newspaper further reported that Pierson acknowledged the mistake.

She told police then, and repeated in an interview with the Dallas paper, that a friend talked her into shoplifting.

"Like an idiot, I went along for the ride," Pierson said.

She and the other woman were accused of trying to lift nine pieces of women's clothing from a JCPenney store in Plano, according to the Dallas News. They stuffed the clothes into shoe boxes in a clumsy, failed heist.