Just days after John McCain all but locked up the GOP presidential nomination, The New York Times today published a story suggesting he had an affair with a lobbyist eight years ago.
Fearing a romance had blossomed between the married candidate and lobbyist Vicki Iseman, staffers were instructed to block her access and confronted McCain in an effort to keep her away, the paper said in a 3,000-word story.
Both McCain, 71, and Iseman, 40, denied they were involved in any romantic relationship,
McCain’s campaign accused Times editors of “lowering their standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear job.”
His lawyer, Robert Bennett said on Fox News Channel he interviewed members of McCain’s staff about the allegations in the story and concluded, “There’s nothing to it.”
There had been reports of the Times planning to run the story in December. Bennett declined to speculate about the paper’s timing or motive.
He acknowledged having “having several conversations and one meeting” with members of the paper’s staff.
The Arizona senator insisted he was not romantically involved with Iseman and never showed her clients favoritism, telling the paper, “I have never betrayed the public trust by doing anything like that.”
Iseman, a partner at Alcalde & Fay, which represented telecommunications companies that did business with McCain’s Senate Commerce Committee, first met him in about 1999, the article said. But her appearances became more frequent, according to the Times.
As fears about the relationship grew, McCain supposedly was approached by two aides who told him he was risking his campaign and career, the Times said.