WASHINGTON -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said he could "almost guarantee" that the recent Politico story about sexual harassment allegations against Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain came from information leaked by another GOP campaign.
The Politico report revealed that while Cain was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, "at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group."
When asked on Laura Ingraham's radio show Monday morning if it was likely the scoop was provided by another Republican campaign, Huckabee agreed with the suspicion and questioned the legitimacy of the Politico report, saying, "Quite frankly, knowing some of the reporters involved -- they're not that good."
Huckabee recalled similar tactics involved in his own 2008 presidential campaign and accused other campaigns of hiring investigators to dig through his trash and show up at his children's elementary schools posing as federal inspectors.
"It's insane -- one of the fundamental things a candidate will spend money on is [opposition] research," Huckabee told Ingraham.
The Cain campaign has since accused Politico of "dredging up thinly sourced allegations" and called some of the claims "unsubstantiated personal attacks."
On MSNBC Monday morning, Cain Chief of Staff Mark Block said, "Herman Cain has never sexually harassed anybody. Period. End of story."
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove told Fox News that Cain needs to either say "yes or no" to the allegations.
"If these allegations are not true, say they aren't true and put it behind you," Rove said. "If not, better get everything out sooner rather than later because in a situation like this, if there is something there, that something's going to come out."
