A few weeks ago, Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign ran into an unexpected problem. The Daily Beast reported on a “secret son” whom the Georgia Republican hadn’t publicly acknowledged, and who “has apparently been estranged from his biological father since his birth a decade ago.”

Given Walker’s record of criticizing absentee fathers, the revelation was a problem. Nevertheless, the GOP candidate and his team acknowledged the accuracy of the report and issued a written statement that said Walker “had a child years ago when he wasn’t married.” The statement went on to dismiss the idea that “Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child.”

The problem quickly got worse — we soon learned about other previously undisclosed children — raising all kinds of questions about the candidate. But one thing stood out for me: Why did Walker’s team issue a written statement referencing “a child” and “the child”? Didn’t the Republican’s campaign team get the full story from the candidate?

As it turns out, that’s an interesting story. The Daily Beast had a follow-up report today:

When Herschel Walker’s campaign aides approached him this winter to discuss whispers that Walker had a secret child, the Georgia GOP’s Senate candidate told his campaign the rumors were false. Walker’s aides already knew he was lying. They had expected him to lie, and had obtained documents in advance of that conversation verifying that Walker did indeed have another child, The Daily Beast has learned.

According to the reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, Walker, when confronted with evidence from his team, eventually conceded that he’d lied to them about the existence of his undisclosed son.

So, aides pressed him further about whether there were other kids. Walker said there were not. That wasn’t true, either.

In other words, when the Senate campaign issued its statement referencing “a child” and “the child,” it’s because members of Walker’s team had been led to believe — by the candidate himself — that there was only one other kid. They simply didn’t know that their candidate had deceived them.

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It’s against this backdrop that the Daily Beast obtained communications from an adviser “closely connected” to the Walker campaign — which also have not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News — that appear to show members of the candidate’s team who “don’t trust Walker” and who harbor concerns “that he isn’t mentally fit for the job.”

He spouts falsehoods “like he’s breathing,” this adviser said — so much so that his own campaign stopped believing him long ago. “He’s lied so much that we don’t know what’s true,” the person said, adding that aides have “zero” trust in the candidate. Three people interviewed for this article independently called him a “pathological liar.”

Those are clearly strong terms, but there’s no denying the degree to which Walker has a credibility problem. As regular readers know, the Georgia Republican has, for example, lied about having a background in law enforcement. And he lied about being a college graduate. And he lied about being his high school’s valedictorian. And he lied about being the founder of a charity for veterans.

His lies about his private-sector record are so outlandish that Walker appeared to be describing an entirely different person with little connection to himself.

It’s possible, of course, that the first-time candidate will win anyway, but in theory, Walker’s troubled relationship with the truth seems like the sort of thing that might give voters pause.