Washington lobbyist Vicki Iseman sued the New York Times on Tuesday for suggesting that she may have had an affair with Sen. John McCain.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, responds to one of the most sensational stories of the presidential campaign, a 3,000-word, front-page Times article in February intimating that the little-known telecommunications lobbyist had an affair with McCain during his first run for the White House in 1999. The story did not provide any evidence of an affair, but said that McCain's top aides became convinced that the relationship was romantic and took steps to keep McCain and Iseman apart.

But even before the suit was filed, Iseman made clear that she disapproved of the Times' handling of the story. In an exclusive series of interviews and e-mails with National Journal's Edward T. Pound this fall, Iseman told her side of the story about how the alleged affair made its way into the media, calling it "a hit-and-run smear campaign."

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