Rep. Matt Rosendale’s office is threatening legal action against former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp after she said on a podcast that he dropped out of the Senate race because he impregnated a staffer.

“This is 100% false and defamatory and former Senator Heitkamp will be hearing from our lawyers soon,” said Ron Kovach, a spokesperson for Rosendale (R-Mont.), in a statement.

Heitkamp, a Democrat who lost her seat to Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) in 2018, made the allegation during an appearance on the “Talking Feds with Harry Litman” podcast. Rosendale dropped out of the race a few days ago, about a week after he officially announced he would run. It’s still unclear if he plans to seek reelection to his House seat.

“I think [the GOP] caucus may lose a member in the next couple days,” Heitkamp alleged. “Just to gossip a little bit: There’s a reason why Rosendale backed out of that Senate race — the rumor is he impregnated a 20-year-old staff person.”

After months of teasing a run for the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, the Montana Republican said he was leaving the race because “the hill was just too steep” after former President Donald Trump endorsed GOP candidate Tim Sheehy.

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