Kamala Harris’s husband admits to having extramarital affair with nanny during first marriage

US Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff on Saturday (local time) admitted to cheating on his first wife. His confession comes after a British tabloid reported that Emhoff had extramarital affairs with his younger daughter’s teachers, which led to the breakdown of his first marriage.

“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some difficult times because of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we have worked through this as a family and have come out stronger on the other side,” Emhoff said in a statement to CNN.

The affair reportedly dates back more than 15 years, when Emhoff was married to his then-wife Kerstin. According to CNN’s report, the relationship ended several years before Emhoff began dating Harris, and he told Harris about the affair well before they married.

The clarification comes after a British tabloid reported that Emhoff had once impregnated the family’s white nanny, Nijean Naylor. Naylor taught at the private school where two of his children attended, the Daily Mail reported.

Citing a close friend, the Daily Mail reports that the nanny “did not hold the baby.”

Meanwhile, Emhoff’s first wife Kerstin also defended him in a statement on Saturday. As CNN reported, she said, “Doug and I decided to end our marriage many years ago for a variety of reasons. He has been a wonderful father to our children, a great friend to me, and I am proud of the warm and supportive blended family that Doug, Kamala, and I have created together.”

Emhoff’s two children from his first wife are now adults, and the family has reportedly become friendly. Kerstin Emhoff has spoken warmly about Harris as a stepmom on several occasions in the past. After a video resurfaced of Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance criticizing Harris for not having children of her own, Kerstin defended the Democrat leader, calling her a “loving, nurturing, extremely protective,” stepmom who was “always there.” She said she was grateful Harris was part of her blended family.

Kerstin Emhoff said in a statement to CNN in July, “These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has co-parented with Doug and me.”

Emhoff’s first marriage ended in 2009, while he married Harris much earlier in 2014, when he was working as an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and Harris was California’s attorney general.

Emhoff’s affair and the circumstances surrounding it were reportedly known to Joe Biden’s vetting committee four years ago, as Harris was going through the running mate process before she was herself selected for the ticket. Citing a separate source familiar with the second gentleman, CNN reported that Doug Emhoff has long regretted the circumstances and was aware they might become public.