Second gentleman Doug Emhoff admits affair during first marriage

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff acknowledged Saturday to having an extramarital affair during his first marriage following a report about the relationship that appeared in a British tabloid. The relationship with a teacher at his children’s school occurred several years before he met and married Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Emhoff’s admission comes after the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported the teacher became pregnant in 2009, but did not have the baby. CBS News is not naming the woman involved in the relationship.

Two sources — both of whom were close to the woman at the time of her relationship with Emhoff — told CBS News that the woman’s pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. 

Those two sources, along with a third source familiar with the relationship — all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity — said that while Emhoff was legally married at the time to his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, the two were separated when the affair happened. All three said that, contrary to the Daily Mail report, the woman did not work as a nanny for the Emhoff children. She taught at their school, though she was not teaching either child at the time of the relationship with Emhoff, the sources said.

“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions,” Emhoff said in a statement provided to CBS News on Saturday. “I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side.”

Emhoff, who worked as an entertainment lawyer prior to becoming second gentleman, shares two adult children, Ella and Cole, with his former wife. 

In her own statement released Saturday, Kerstin said that “Doug and I decided to end our marriage for a variety of reasons, many years ago. He is a great father to our kids, continues to be a great friend to me and I am really proud of the warm and supportive blended family Doug, Kamala, and I have built together.”

Court records show that Kerstin Emhoff filed for divorce in 2009. It appears to have been finalized in late 2010. 

A spokesperson for the Harris campaign declined comment. 

A source familiar with the situation told CBS News that Harris knew about the affair prior to their marriage, and it was also known to those in the Biden campaign who conducted the VP vetting process in 2020.

Harris and Emhoff met in 2013 and married in 2014. They do not have children together. Emhoff’s adult children call Harris “Mamala,” and their close relationship has been widely documented. Harris even presided over Cole’s wedding last year.

Arden Farhi

contributed to this report.