Delaware senator Tom Carper admitted to slapping his wife in a 1998 interview with a veteran political journalist in the state, confirming an accusation he denied when first running for Congress.

Carper represented Delaware first in the House, then was elected governor in 1993, and has been in the Senate since 2001. He fought the accusation that he hit his wife when it first emerged during his 1982 run for Congress, saying it was “without basis in fact” and pledging to sue the New York Post, which first published the accusation in 1982, for libel.

Carper won in 1982 largely by attacking his Republican opponent for his “vicious” efforts to “smear” him and his wife, but 16 years later he admitted to Delaware reporter Celia Cohen that the accusation was true all along.

“Did I slap my wife 20 years ago? Yes,” Carper said. “Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? No.”