NV Scandal Gov. Wins Mansion, Silence

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June 09, 2008 5:18 PM

Nevada’s scandal-tarred governor has suspended his effort to divorce his wife, after she and her lawyer made veiled suggestions that his effort could force secrets from his past to spill into public view.

"You'd have to be a dummy to realize that there aren't implications beyond the divorce itself for her and for him," the attorney for Dawn Gibbons, wife of GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons, told the New York Times late last month.

Gov. Gibbons has reportedly come under federal investigation for bribery and corruption allegations from his time as a U.S. congressman. He was accused of sexually assaulting a cocktail waitress in the days before the 2006 gubernatorial election; and his wife has accused him of having a long-running affair with a podiatrist’s wife.  Gibbons has denied all the allegations.

According to a copy of the agreement released to the media Monday afternoon, the couple has agreed to suspend legal divorce proceedings in favor of working privately to resolve the matter.  "No court documents will be filed" and "there will be no further public comment from either side" while the two "attempt to resolve issues related to the divorce action," the agreement said.

The governor will live in the Nevada governor’s mansion, and his wife will live in the guest house. The two "will share the Public Areas of the Mansion for their respective Public Duties," the document said. They will coordinate via their staff, according to the agreement.