Rep. Matt Rosendale threatens legal action over claim of impregnating staffer

Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp accused Rep. Matt Rosendale of impregnating a staffer, leading to legal threats. Rosendale denies it.

Rep. Matt Rosendale is threatening legal action against former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp after she claimed on a podcast that the Montana Republican withdrew from the Senate race because he impregnated a young staffer. Ron Kovach, a spokesperson for Mr. Rosendale, stated that this is "100% false and defamatory" and that Ms. Heitkamp will be hearing from their lawyers soon.

Ms. Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat who was defeated in 2018 by Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, made the comment on the "Talking Feds with Harry Litman" podcast. She alleged that there was a reason why Rosendale backed out of the Senate race, stating that the rumor is he impregnated a 20-year-old staff person.

The Washington Times reached out to Ms. Heitkamp, who is now at the McCain Institute, but did not immediately hear back. Mr. Rosendale dropped out of the race over a week ago, just days after launching the official Senate campaign. He has not officially announced whether he plans to run for his current House seat.

Former Montana GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg last week announced his bid to replace Mr. Rosendale in Montana's 2nd District. Mr. Rehberg served as Montana's lone congressman from 2001 to 2013 and retired from politics after unsuccessful Senate bids against Democrats Max Baucus and Jon Tester.

Following months of suggesting he would take on Mr. Tester, Mr. Rosendale decided to not run for the Montana Senate seat because "the hill was just too steep" after former President Donald Trump endorsed GOP candidate Tim Sheehy.