Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt Targets Ben Carson and Aide

Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is once again offering cold hard cash in exchange for dirt on a political figure. This time, it's a conservative radio host who serves as a top adviser to GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, according to the The Hollywood Reporter.

Flynt accuses Carson of being "a hypocrite" for associating with Armstrong Williams, who the publisher called "an accused sexual predator." It should be noted there are no pending criminal charges against Williams, described by THR as Carson's chief campaign architect.

The Reporter says Flynt took out a full-page ad Monday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, offering as much as $1 million for "confirmable information" that would prove Carson's adviser "initiated unwanted sexual advances toward other men."

Williams was the target of a 1997 lawsuit claiming he sexually harassed a male producer who worked with him on a radio program and as his personal trainer. Williams denied the accusations and settled the lawsuit out of court years ago, but rumors persist due to the innuendo that Williams and Stephen Gregory had intimate and sexual relations.

"Dr. Carson, Heal Thyself!" screams the headline of the Hustler publisher's paid ad, which repeats the accusations of sexual harassment in detail and the outcome of the suit.

"Armstrong Williams, your brother in faith and the person you say you trust more than anyone else outside of your immediate family, settled a lawsuit out of court after affidavits provided allegations that he initiated unwanted sexual advances toward other men." Flynt's ad says if Carson does not disavow Williams by Tuesday's debate, he will to go forward with the offer.

Gregory claimed Williams repeatedly "kissed him on the mouth, grabbed his buttocks and genitals and climbed into bed with him on business trips," according to news accounts at the time. Gregory's legal team asked for $200,000 in damages, alleging he was fired in retaliation for refusing Williams's advances. The settlement was for an undisclosed amount.

Although there's no proof he ever made good on his promised payouts, Flynt has offered vast sums of money in the past to taint right-wing politicians with accusations of illegal and immoral behavior, such as when he put up $1 million in exchange for evidence that Republican enemies of then-President Bill Clinton were adulterers.

According to the Reporter, Carson's campaign did not respond to a request for a comment.