Walker denies 'in strongest possible terms' paying for abortion, in report threatening Senate bid

Georgia GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker says he will file a defamation suit Tuesday morning against a news outlet for its report that he paid for a woman's abortion over 10 years ago – an allegation he says he denies in "the strongest possible terms."

The report was published Monday by the Daily Beast, based on an allegation from an ex-girlfriend and could have a major impact on Walker, who’s a strong anti-abortion candidate, and his bid to unseat incumbent Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock. 

The RealClearPolitics.com polls average show the race, whose outcome will be key in determining whether Democrats and Republicans control the Senate next year, as deadlocked.

"I can tell you right now, I never asked anyone to get an abortion," Walker said Monday night on the Fox News Channel’s "Hannity" show. "I never paid for an abortion. It's a lie."

The unidentified woman who claimed to be Walker's ex-girlfriend said she sought a medical abortion in 2009. 

The woman reportedly gave supporting documents to the news outlet including a receipt from an abortion clinic, a bank deposit receipt with an image of a $700 check that appeared to be signed by Walker and a "get well" card that appeared to be signed by Walker, according to ABC News, which was not able to confirm the Daily Beast's reporting.

"This is a flat-out lie, and I deny this in the strongest possible terms," Walker said in a tweet in which he called the report a "repugnant hatchet job" and criticized what he described as the Daily Beast’s reporting tactics, according to CNN, which also could not verify the Daily Beast's reporting.