Editor's note: On Nov. 23, 2015, Todd Bosnich was sentenced for obstructing justice after he admitted he created a phony email to make it appear DeMaio or his associates were threatening him. He also admitted to lying to the FBI about the email.
New allegations from a second former campaign staffer of congressional candidate Carl DeMaio have rekindled the controversy in the race for the 52nd District, just before Tuesday’s election.
A second accuser who spoke with spoke with KPBS has accused DeMaio, the Republican challenger for the seat held by Democrat U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, of inappropriate sexual conduct.
Justin Harper told KPBS DeMaio exposed himself in a campaign restroom on July 10. NBC 7 could not independently confirm the new allegations.
The DeMaio campaign called the accusation an "outrageous lie," but the candidate has not specifically responded to, or answered questions about, this or other recent allegations of inappropriate emails. His camp has said the accusations are all part of a smear campaign.
In a CNN report that first aired Oct. 10, former campaign staffer Todd Bosnich described an alleged incident where he said he was called into DeMaio's office and the candidate exposed himself.
The office of San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis decided there was not enough evidence to support Bosnich's claims, or DeMaio’s own counter-claims that Bosnich was involved in the break-in at his campaign headquarters in May.
DeMaio, who has denied the allegations, blamed the Peters campaign for perpetuating the controversy.
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"Scott Peters continues to use false personal smears against me rather than focusing on the issues that San Diegans care about. That's why I'm not going to join him in the mud. I'm not going to worry about the false personal smears he's throwing against me," DeMaio said.
A new Survey USA poll conducted for UT San Diego/KGTV shows 45 percent of responders saying they will vote for DeMaio, while 44 percent say they will vote for Peters.
The winner will come down to the 11 percent of voters who remain undecided in one of the nastiest elections in the country.
On Sunday, protesters outside DeMaio's campaign headquarters demanded an apology for sexist emails they said he had sent.
Their claim stems from an email DeMaio purportedly sent in January featuring a demeaning image of a Peters campaign aide. DeMaio has denied sending the email and told the UT San Diego that Bosnich fabricated it.
Peters addressed the email scandal Sunday, saying it was time for DeMaio to "come clean" on it.
"I wish that Mr. DeMaio would've taken the opportunity to say ‘I did it, was a weak moment’ or whatever he has to say — but come clean with people. Tell the truth apologize when it's necessary. I've never seen him apologize for anything," Peters said.
The tension in the race was evident in a failed handshake moment just before the taping of a recent "Politically Speaking" episode, when DeMaio walked right by Peters’ hand outstretched for a handshake.
In that program, DeMaio questioned Peters on how a “campaign playbook” ended up in the hands of Peters’ campaign staff.
Anonymous emails sent to Bosnich are the subject of FBI agent interviews with potential witnesses, sources have confirmed to NBC7 Investigates.
NBC 7 obtained emails that appear to show DeMaio bragging about his campaign writing a UT San Diego editorial critical of DeMaio's opponent, a claim UT management has strongly denied.
Then, in a news conference Wednesday, former city council member Donna Frye stepped into the fray when she said she believes there are other victims. When pressed, Frye did not elaborate.
