Posted on 05/15/2008 8:22:15 AM PDT by Puppage
ELIZABETH, N.J. -- The nation's first openly gay governor was back in court Thursday, testifying for a second day as he tries to convince a judge he is too poor to pay alimony to his estranged wife.
Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey testified Wednesday that he has limited income, few assets and significant debts. He said he is all but unemployable because of the gay sex scandal that toppled his administration and ongoing publicity in his messy divorce.
"Because of this case, I have been financially crippled," McGreevey told the judge.
McGreevey, 50, stepped down 13 months before his first term was to end, announcing in a nationally televised speech that he was "a gay American." He said he had an affair with a male staffer while married to Dina Matos McGreevey. The staffer denies the affair and says he was sexually harassed by the governor.
Now an Episcopal seminary student, McGreevey said he owes a prior divorce lawyer at least $116,000 and has not paid his first ex-wife any child support this year. He said he relies on boyfriend Mark O'Donnell to pay legal bills and lifestyle expenses. He lives in a house owned by O'Donnell and said he owes O'Donnell money.
Matos McGreevey wants alimony, and is asking the judge to base the payments, at least in part, on McGreevey's "marital conduct," including his alleged adulterous gay relationship.
McGreevey lawyer Stephen Haller said the couple's "short-term marriage" does not qualify for her for alimony. They split in 2004 after four years of marriage.
Matos McGreevey, 41, is a hospital executive, but she is slated to lose her job next month when the hospital closes.
Her lawyer, John Post, accused McGreevey of underestimating his earning potential.
The judge said employment expert Donna Kolsky will testify Thursday afternoon. She is expected to testify that McGreevey could earn a maximum of $118,000 from teaching and consulting. Matos McGreevey earns about $82,000 a year at the hospital.
The couple is fighting over alimony, child support, and how to divide their assets and liabilities. They have agreed on custody of their only child, 6-year-old Jacqueline.
Matos McGreevey is asking the court to award her alimony and additional money based on the contention that McGreevey committed marriage fraud. She says she was duped into marriage by a gay man who needed the cover of a wife to advance his political career.
McGreevey says his wife should have known he was gay.
***You then attempt to place “it” in a metaphorical closet, keep it separate from open daily life and indulge it only in dark, secret places.***
McGreevy writes as though he had no other choice. He had no right to marry and make the usual promises to love and honor when he knew that he would continue a “hidden lifestyle” that could destroy that marriage.
Alimony aside, he is not a man to be trusted.
I don’t understand your point?
If you mean should the female be forced to pay alimony if she defaults on the marriage contract, and especially if either party publicly shames the union like McGreavey did, absolutely. I stated earlier, it is just as common here for a female to be forced to pay alimony in a contested divorce as the male. As it should be...
“Because of this case, I have been financially crippled,”
Too bad, so sad — you brought it on yourself, Perv!
GET A JOB!!
The 'marriage' was obviously just a front so he could elected. Sick puppy.
And going back to school is obviously a ploy to try to get out of child support. Sick puppy.
I think CS is mandatory, not even a ten year coma will get you out of it. I truly think he’s broke. Who would hire him? All he knows it’s on that one book. He’s, IMO, going to school, to actually get a paycheck.
Maybe he’s going to school to get a paycheck. Maybe. How much can he make getting a Master’s degree in Divinity? And who would hire him?
I know someone who was a highly successful orthopedic surgeon. He was very angry at his wife and didn’t want to pay any child support or alimony so he went back to school to study...divinity. When he graduated from there he decided to do charity work.
CS may be mandatory but according to the article he “...has not paid his first ex-wife any child support this year. “
What a man!
She is about to lose her job as the hospital she works for is closing. And if you think she is going to get another job at that level you don't know much about the health-care industry now.
Plus, any money that could have gone to the child, she made him spend in legal bills.
What do you mean, "she made him"? She had to drag his worthless hind end to court to get him to pay child support. If he were in any way an honorable man he wouldn't have to be ordered to pay to help support his child.
This scum is engaged in what is legally termed "voluntary impoverishment," which is when a spouse is so determined to avoid paying child support he refuses to get a job. You can't do much more to impoverish yourself than going to seminary. Gosh, at an Episcopal seminary he doesn't even have to make a pretense of giving up his sick lifestyle. I hope the judge tells him he has to work and pay for his kid or face jail time. Other parents have to face those terms, no reason a former governor should be exempt.
not a real man, unless he is really out of luck—temporarily. That happens. In NJ they will really ruin your life for not paying (jail, credit report, no driver’s license etc). Making matters worse, the US State Dept will even revoke your passport.
Plainfield, NJ June 22 -- Former Gov. James E. McGreevey and his partner, Mark O'Donnell, are about to purchase a 17-room, $1.4 million home in Plainfield's historic Sleepy Hollow neighborhood, according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal.
The ivy-covered Georgian Colonial boasts eight bedrooms, five fireplaces and four bathrooms. The neighborhood is home to several local politicians, including former Plainfield Mayor Al McWilliams and Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union).
McGreevey will live in the 92-year-old home with O'Donnell, a successful Manhattan financier who has been dating the former governor for about a year. The couple is expected to close the deal next week, the sources said.
James and Mark met at a cocktail party in Manhattan. McGreevey flew to Australia to meet Mark's family.
http://www.gaypasg.org/GayPASG/PressClippings/2006/Jun/A%20Plainfield%20mansion%20for%20McGreevey%20and%20partner.htm
I didn’t know that. Thanks for posting that information. Sickening bastard.
I think he’s been there and done that already. I thought he wrote a book, sorry if I am wrong on that, but he should be getting money from that, if he wrote one. Plus one of his political cronies probably can get him a job somewhere in NJ government, that’s what they usually do for the washed up. I thought I saw him on the turnpike with a leather chaps, and bare butt cheeks, LOL
Are former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and his partner, Mark O'Donnell, thinking about adopting?
The ex-gov recently revealed their dream while shopping for baby clothes at Saks, according to an eavesdropper. "He said he wanted to adopt a baby," the source tells us.
McGreevey and his first wife, Kari, have a 14-year-old daughter, Morag. He and his second wife, Dina, have a 5-year-old daughter, Jacqueline.
Asked whether he might adopt, McGreevey told us: "I'm already blessed with two wonderful daughters who represent a full-time commitment."
But would he and O'Donnell like a child of their own?
"There are no children presently in our future," said McGreevey, who is due to study at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in Chelsea in the fall.
McGreevey has said he and O'Donnell, an Australian money manager, hoped to formalize their commitment in a civil union.
One pal said, "I wouldn't be surprised [if they adopted]."
Some think McGreevey may be wary of discussing the possibility while he and Dina wage a hostile divorce battle.
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