Hell Hath No Fury Like a First Lady Scorned

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May 30, 2008 12:19 PM

He's faced an accusation of sexual assault and allegations of taking bribes.  But can he face an angry, estranged wife who's going public with his dirty laundry?

That's the question faced by Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, R, who's watching his hopes for a discreet divorce from his wife disappear rapidly, as news outlets from Nevada to New York have covered the acrimonious mess.

Gibbons' wife, Dawn, is asking the court to reject her husband’s efforts to seal their divorce proceedings.  In filings and comments, she and her lawyer make veiled and not-so-veiled suggestions that his transgressions go beyond typical marital infidelity –- and that she may have information which confirms earlier criminal allegations Gibbons has denied.

One example: One night just prior to Nevada's 2006 gubernatorial election, Gibbons, then a congressman, was accused of drunkenly assaulting a cocktail waitress in a parking garage.  Gibbons denied the accusation, surveillance tapes disappeared, and Gibbons' campaign spun the story into a he-said, she-said zone.

In her recent filing, Dawn Gibbons said that the public was "misled" about the incident by Gibbons' "handlers, spinmeisters and staff," who "trashed" the victim in public.

"[S]he never had the opportunity of having a Public hearing with attendant cross-examination of this man so the truth would be told," Dawn Gibbons said in her filing.

It has also been reported that Gibbons has been the subject of a bribery investigation, for allegedly taking cash and gifts as a congressman in exchange for defense contracts.  Gibbons has denied the allegations.  But his wife might have more on the topic, her lawyer appeared to insinuate in comments to the New York Times yesterday.

"You'd have to be a dummy to realize that there aren't implications beyond the divorce itself for her and for him," said Dawn Gibbons' attorney, Charles Dunlap.

"When you have everything out in the open, the truth is served, the public knows, democracy is served and all that."