Democratic strategist accused of sexually assaulting woman while working for Mike Bloomberg's campaign days after 9/11

• A photographer accused Democratic strategist Duane Baughman of sexual assault.
• In a new lawsuit, she alleges he assaulted her while working on Mike Bloomber's 2001 mayoral campaign.
• Baughman filed his own lawsuit against her in June, saying she's run "a 20+ year smear campaign" against him.

Just three days after 9/11, Petra C. Beter — who had lived in downtown Manhattan and was still shaken by the destruction of the Twin Towers — was picked up in a car by a top staffer for Michael Bloomberg, according to a new lawsuit.

Duane Baughman, a lead media strategist for Bloomberg's 2001 New York City mayoral campaign, had pestered Beter for days, trying to get her to take photos of the candidate, her lawsuit alleged.