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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas

Trump-endorsed Republican in Louisiana accused of rape in 2007

a man in a suit looks off to the side
Blake Miguez in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana state capital, in January 2024. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

A Louisiana congressional candidate endorsed by Donald Trump was the subject of a 2007 rape accusation that was reported to local law enforcement the same day of the alleged assault – but never disclosed to the public or, reportedly, the president’s team as he became one of the rising stars in the state’s Republican party.

That has raised concerns within the White House that Blake Miguez “either wasn’t fully vetted or wasn’t forthcoming about discoverable documents from his past” before securing Trump’s backing, the Atlantic reported on Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the endorsement process.

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