Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, said on
Saturday that he had an extramarital affair during his first marriage,
years before he met Ms. Harris.

The acknowledgment, which was released in a statement, came hours after
a British tabloid reported that Mr. Emhoff had a previously undisclosed
relationship with a teacher who worked at the elementary school his
children attended in Culver City, Calif., approximately 15 years ago.

At the time, Mr. Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, was married to Kerstin
Emhoff, a film producer, with whom he had two children. The couple filed
for divorce in 2009. Mr. Emhoff met Ms. Harris in 2013, and they married
the following year.

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

The Biden campaign was aware of the affair before it decided to tap Ms.
Harris as vice president in 2020, according to a person familiar with
the vetting process, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In addition,
this person said that Ms. Harris knew of the affair before she married
Mr. Emhoff in 2014.

According to an article published by The Daily Mail on Saturday, Mr.
Emhoff had the relationship with a woman who at the time worked as a
teacher at The Willows Community School, a private school in west Los
Angeles.

The woman, who now lives on Long Island, did not respond to messages
seeking comment.

In the years since their divorce, Mr. Emhoff and his ex-wife have
frequently referred to each other as friends, and they have said they
have worked to raise their children with Ms. Harris, whom they call a
“co-parent.”

Ms. Emhoff also has lately defended Ms. Harris. After Senator JD Vance,
Republican of Ohio, was named the vice-presidential nominee, critics
began resurfacing remarks he made in 2021 claiming the country was run
by “childless cat ladies,” including Ms. Harris. Ms. Emhoff called the
attacks “baseless” and praised the vice president’s role in her family.

The former couple’s two children, now both adults, have also defended
the vice president’s role in their upbringing. Ella Emhoff, in a social
media post last week, wrote “how can you be ‘childless’ when you have
cutie pie kids like Cole and I,” referring to herself and her brother.

In another statement on Saturday, Ms. Emhoff also addressed her
husband’s affair, but stopped short of blaming it for their divorce.

“Doug and I decided to end our marriage for a variety of reasons, many
years ago,” Ms. Emhoff said. “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.”

Mr. Emhoff, who left his law practice when Ms. Harris was elected as
President Biden’s vice president, has become an integral and prominent
part of Ms. Harris’s political operation. On Friday he co-hosted a
fund-raiser on Fire Island for the campaign, along with Chasten
Buttigieg, the husband of Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary,
which the Democratic National Committee said had raised $321,000.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/03/us/politics/doug-emhoff-affair.html