'The process that I went through was extremely thorough'
Sources came forward about Doug Emhoff because the Harris campaign showed him as a feminist ally: Josh Boswell
The Daily Mail senior reporter Josh Boswell outlines his process of investigation on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff's representative called a Daily Mail report detailing three unnamed sources who accused him of having slapped a former girlfriend during a 2012 trip to the Cannes Film Festival "untrue."
Fox News Digital has not been able to independently confirm the allegations.
"This report is untrue," an unnamed representative for Vice President Kamala Harris' husband told news outlet Semafor. "Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false."
Daily Mail reporter Josh Boswell appeared on "Jesse Watters Primetime" and outlined the claims that Emhoff slapped his then-girlfriend in 2012.
"The process that I went through was extremely thorough and careful about this, because you're right, we're on the eve of an election, but the thing that made these sources come forward is not because there's an election, but because the Kamala Harris campaign was using Doug Emhoff, showing him as this feminist ally, baking up his credentials as an ally to women and that just enraged them," Boswell said.
"I quoted one of them in the piece saying this, that she thought that it was disgusting, that they were portraying him this way, when in fact, these friends knew what had really happened."
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US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris hugs Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff after speaking on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The woman who was allegedly slapped is described by the Daily Mail as a successful New York attorney and is identified only by the pseudonym "Jane."
The incident was alleged to have occurred in 2012 while Emhoff and Jane were in a valet line at a Cannes Film Festival in Nice, France.
"Jane got into a cab. The valet, either with €100 that she slipped him or the fact that there was this domestic dispute going on apparently, ushered her into a car, but then Doug forced his way in too," Boswell recalled the alleged story. "That's what the friends told me. That's when she got really scared. Jane called her male friend who was in New York at the time. So, it was kind of bedtime for him, but he took this call, and she told him what had happened. The next day she questioned Doug about it, and he seemed to be completely nonchalant about it. He used some tennis metaphor because he's into tennis. So, Jane slapped him back when he slapped her, and she slapped him back twice like this, one with each hand. Doug said, 'You got one down the line and across the court. So, it's no big deal.' That's all he had to say about it, and so Jane, of course, immediately broke up with him and never saw him again. They left. They went home separately. "
The allegation was made to the Daily Mail by three people who described themselves as Jane's friends and who shared their recollections of the incident, along with travel itineraries and correspondence between Jane and Emhoff to corroborate the story. All three requested anonymity out of fear of potential retaliation from Emhoff.
"Those sources were each independently talking to us and their accounts closely corroborated each other," Boswell said. "So, that's part of what gave me the confidence in this story. "
One friend said Jane told her about the alleged incident at the time.
"He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around," the source is quoted as saying. "She said she was in utter shock. She was so furious, she slapped him on one side, and then on the other cheek with the other hand."
Another friend — described by the Daily Mail as a New York businessman — also gave his recollection of the alleged slap.
"It was very clear what she was telling me," that source said, according to the Daily Mail. "She said she was with a guy, her date, she was at the Cannes Film Festival, and he hit her. She was in the car with the guy at the time."
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 19: Second gentleman Doug Emhoff participates in stage testing ahead of the start of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
A third friend, described as a female executive, told the Daily Mail that she learned of the alleged incident in 2014, and purportedly found out new details from Jane in 2018, when Harris, then a senator from California, made headlines with her questioning of a Supreme Court nominee who had been accused of sexual assault.
The third source said that she had asked Jane if Emhoff had ever apologized and was told that he had not, but that "he commented about the hit she gave him. It was a tennis metaphor. But no apology at all."
According to the Daily Mail's sources, Jane and Emhoff had been dating for about three months before the reported trip to France. Emhoff allegedly cut the trip off early and returned to LA for his daughter's 13th birthday.
"Documents were very important," Boswell said. "They helped prove that firstly, the relationship, you know, we've got this photograph of them together. We had other material like that. Then, the email actually references the fact that Doug had to leave early because he had to get back to L.A. in time for his daughter's birthday. Her birthday is May 29th. Their flight was scheduled to leave on May 29th. So, you can see that matched up. We got the flight details, and you can see they took a layover flight to take them to Nice. It all added up with what each of the sources were saying. Those sources were each independently talking to us and their accounts closely corroborated each other. So, that's part of what gave me the confidence in this story."
Emhoff was married to his first wife from 1992 to 2009. The marriage ended following his affair with their children's nanny, who he got pregnant. Emhoff met now-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2013 when she was serving as California attorney general, and they were married in 2014.
The Harris campaign, the Office of the Vice President and a representative for Emhoff's ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, did not comment despite repeated requests from Fox News.
Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report.
