By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer First published: Saturday, July 14, 2007
BALLSTON SPA -- Former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney has filed a legal action against his wife that appears to be a divorce, less than a year after losing his re-election bid amid reports that police investigated a domestic dispute at their home. Sweeney, a Clifton Park Republican who lost to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in November, filed forms this week with the Saratoga County Clerk's office to initiate the action.
While details of a July 11 summons were sealed, Sweeney is listed as the plaintiff, indicating he sought the action. Computer records available to the public in the county clerk's office don't specifically identify the legal action.
It was unclear whether Gaia Sweeney is contesting the action. Late Friday afternoon she said she only learned of the news "an hour ago" by reading a Times Union blog entry.
News of Sweeney's plans were first reported in The Saratogian newspaper.
Sweeney could not be reached.
News of the police incident surfaced days before Election Day last year. A timesunion.com story reported that Gaia Sweeney called a Saratoga County 911 dispatcher Dec. 2, 2005, to complain that her husband was "knocking her around" during an argument at the couple's home, according to a document the newspaper obtained.
Sweeney and his wife acknowledged that police went to their home but questioned the document's accuracy. He called the leak of the report political. He also promised to authorize State Police to release official documents, but ultimately did not.
I'm sure that the Sweeney's can thank Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and her party for exposing a personal issue that totally destroyed not only a political career but a personal one as well!
I WOULD NEVER BE IN POLITICS....It is just one big litter box!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I think that is the main reason so many good people will not run for any political office for fear of the mud slinging that occurs during the campaign.
EXACTLY! In order to be in politics, you have to become so incredibly thick skinned that I think it pushes one over the line to being non-responsive, no compassion and actually leading to out of touch with not only other politicians and opposing parties, but ultimatly carrying over to the people. They just become desensitized(hardend) to EVERYTHING and EVERYONE and EVERY SITUATION! Actually they turn out to be 'not very nice people'!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Sweeney seeks to bar spouse Court grants former congressman temporary order of protection
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer First published: Friday, July 20, 2007
BALLSTON SPA -- Former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney has filed legal paperwork to keep his wife away from him, according to a court document obtained this week by the Times Union. The temporary order of protection, signed July 13 by state Su Court Justice Richard Aulisi, bars Gaia Sweeney from going near her husband, his home or his business. It also forbids her from communicating with him in any way, and the order shall remain in effect until "further order of the court."
The filing comes on the heels of a separate legal action last week, a "summons with notice" that is the first step toward a divorce, according to a court source familiar with the case.
Attempts to reach either Sweeney were unsuccessful.
The paperwork sheds light on what has apparently been a troubled marriage. Just before Election Day last year, when Sweeney sought re-election, a police report surfaced describing a call Gaia Sweeney had made to 911 on Dec. 2, 2005. She said her husband was "knocking her around."
In response to media coverage of the police report, the Sweeneys appeared arm-and-arm, posing for photographers outside their Clifton Park home.
"The evening in question was a very difficult time for our family," Gaia Sweeney said at the time. "Real life has real problems. Like every family, we have personal challenges that we must overcome. Anyone who believes that life is not complicated just doesn't get it. The pressure of the yearlong public scrutiny reached its breaking point and so had I."
She added, "I love my husband, and he loves me. At no time has John hurt me or done anything other than try to protect me."
John Sweeney, a Republican, lost his seat to Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat and political newcomer, and has since kept a low profile. Gaia, known as Gayle, sells real estate in Clifton Park.
And to think, it would be a badge of honour if someone like Gillibrand (or should I say Clinton) would dump their hubby. They try to make Sweeney out to be the bottom of the barrel. If he was a Democrat and a female, he'd be liberating himself from this horrible person who was keeping him down.
Real good point BK.but do you know what? Do we REALLY need to know about this divorce? It is just more information than any of us need to know. People get divorced every day. So what's the big deal here? And you are right,if the sexes and political parties were reversed, the media would be reporting it much differnently.
Real good point BK....but ya know what? Do we REALLY need to know about this divorce?
The only reason for us to know this RIGHT NOW is because there's another Repulican, who the Democrats will tell you would do the same thing if he only got the chance. Maybe because he's the same party as the person who just filed for divorce that we shouldn't vote for him. You don't have a clue what those "evil" Republicans will do.
I don't really care what politician gets divorced or for whatever reason. They are not in the public arena any longer so just leave them alone. They have kids for God's sake.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Sweeney's wife claims he abused her Says she fears for her life and that election eve denial was "coerced"
By KATE GURNETT, Staff writer First published: Sunday, July 22, 2007
Gayle Sweeney, about to confront former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney in a divorce case, claims her husband was often verbally abusive and at times physically abused her during their marriage. She now concedes that a statement she made on the eve of last fall's election denying marital abuse was "coerced."
Mrs. Sweeney, who is staying with friends at locations she wants to keep secret, approached the Times Union on Friday and asked to have her story told. She said she was fearful for her life.
"I am never alone, I'm always with other people. I think with all the connections involved -- John Sweeney has connections, money and power -- I want protection," Gayle Sweeney said.
Mrs. Sweeney, 36, said she wanted to publicly counter what she expects to be her husband's divorce claim of mental cruelty. The former four-term congressman filed forms July 11 with the Saratoga County clerk to initiate the divorce.
Contacted Saturday, John Sweeney flatly denied any physical abuse of his wife.
"Out of respect for the legal proceedings, and the judge's preference, I will not comment on any of the issues involved with my marriage," Sweeney said in a written statement he delivered in person to the newspaper. "I do however feel compelled to explicitly state that I never at any time engaged in abuse and violence."
Sweeney's first wife, Betty Sweeney, of Schaghticoke, stood up for her former husband in a telephone interview Saturday.
"I've known (John) all these years and I never observed any kind of behavior like that towards me or anybody else," said Betty Sweeney, who had three children with him.
Over the last month, Gayle Sweeney said, both she and her husband sensed a breakup coming after a roller-coaster relationship marked by alcohol-induced spats. Sweeney recently sought an order of protection against his wife, and ordered her to leave their home.
Sweeney said he is not commenting, on the advice of his matrimonial attorney, Karen Gazda. A hearing in the divorce case is set for Monday in Fulton County. Mrs. Sweeney is contesting the action. Her attorney is Michael Freedman.
Sweeney, 51, lost his seat in Congress last November to Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.
Gayle and John Sweeney first met in 1996 at Broadway Joe's, a bar on South Pearl Street. Mrs. Sweeney was tending bar when Sweeney came in with Mayor Jerry Jennings, she recalled. She and Sweeney were in other relationships and didn't begin dating until 2001, when they went to Tavern at Sterup Square in Raymertown.
"I was just in awe of him," said Gayle Sweeney. "And we just fell in love." Within months, they moved in together and they married three years later. "He was very charismatic." (Sweeney dropped her birth name, Gaia, in the sixth grade for the more traditional Gayle.)
Mrs. Sweeney had no prior experience in politics or life in Washington, D.C., but quickly learned the ropes. Her husband hired her as a fundraising consultant, paying her a 10 percent commission on the money she brought in. Critics questioned whether Rep. Sweeney was simply laundering campaign funds for personal use. The last straw in the marriage came June 30, Mrs. Sweeney said. She gave this account: After dinner and two bottles of white wine at a restaurant in Lake George, the couple argued about a remark she'd made to someone during dinner that John was not going to run again for Congress. Angered, John drove home to Clifton Park, leaving her at The Georgian resort with no transportation home. Karen Gazda, John Sweeney's lawyer, said she had photographs of bruises and bite marks her client suffered from Gayle Sweeney following their argument at Lake George earlier this month. "Judges do not issue orders of protection lightly," she said.
Last November, just days before the hotly contested election that John Sweeney ultimately lost, the Sweeneys appeared before a throng of journalists to rebut reports in the Times Union and the New York Daily News that Gayle Sweeney had called police to an incident of domestic violence at their Clifton Park home.
At the time, the Times Union had obtained a State Police dispatch report confirming long-standing rumors of a domestic incident. The report indicated that Mrs. Sweeney had phoned State Police in December 2005 to report her husband was "knocking her around."
In the subsequent news conference outside the home of GOP strategist Tom Slater, John and Gayle Sweeney called the report "a fake."
Mrs. Sweeney defended her husband then. "I did not need to be protected from John...there were no injuries to me," she declared at the time.
Sweeney blamed Gillibrand, saying she'd leaked bad information and "in her desire for power, she has tried to ruin my marriage, slander my family."
In fact, Mrs. Sweeney said Friday, she had been injured in the altercation, to the point where her lips were swollen when Sweeney pushed her into a file cabinet. Political advisers wanted her to deny that there had been a violent incident that night, in a last-ditch attempt to save her husband's campaign, she said.
Instead, she said, "the evening in question was a very difficult time for our family. Real life has real problems."
After November, Mrs. Sweeney said, her husband "did blame me for losing the election on several occasions."
Earlier this month, before Sweeney filed for divorce, Mrs. Sweeney claims, he took her off their joint bank account and the account of Sweeney & Associates, a consulting business.
Now, with just $400 in the bank, Gayle Sweeney says, she is training to sell real estate. Gurnett can be reached at 454-5490 or by e-mail at kgurnett@timesunion.com.
I hope the Gillibrand political camp can sleep well at night. Ya know the old saying, 'what goes around, comes around'? IT DOES!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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