There is an interesting twist in the messy divorce of Congressman Alan Grayson (D, Florida) this week after his lawyers pulled off a challenge that you usually see in movies: the secured an order dismissing any division of marital assets with his wife Lolita because she was found to have been previously married. Since his marriage was invalid on bigamy grounds, there was no marriage and thus no marital assets. That is a considerable blow for Lolita who sought part of Grayson’s $30 million estate. She has four minor children with Rep. Grayson.
Rep. Grayon insists in papers that “Unbeknownst to Mr. Grayson, Ms. Grayson was married and remained married to another man …up to and after the parties conducted an apparent marriage ceremony on April 28, 1990.” He says that, four years after their marriage, Lolita “secretly participated” in a divorce from her first husband, Robert Carson.
The surprising allegation was the latest in a truly horrific divorce where Rep. Grayson referred to his ex-wife as a “gold digger”. On March 1, police were called to their house after Rep. Grayson’s wife accused him of shoving her against a door and required her to fight him off. Grayson then released a videotape that he says shows Lolita as the aggressor. The video was shot by one of Grayson’s aides. He then accused her of defamation, libel, slander and abuse of process. He is also accused by her lawyers of trying to have her arrested for credit card fraud.
After succeeding in proving his marriage bigamous, Rep. Grayson is moving to deny Lolita custody of their children and is seeking reimbursement for “all of the money and property she has received” during their “purported” marriage. This includes $15,000 in damages as well as exclusive use of the family’s home and their 1981 DeLorean.
In the meantime, Lolita (who married Rep. Grayson in 1990) has said that she is living on public assistance after Rep. Grayson cut her off financially.
Grayson has had an impressive career, including lecturing at George Washington University. He has shown both considerable intellect and skills in a remarkable series of accomplishments. He worked his way through Harvard College as a janitor and nightwatchman and finished summa cum laude with a degree in economics in 1978. In 1983, he earned a Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and a Masters of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is an accomplished economists and an expert on gerontology. He also clerked for both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia while they were on the D.C. Circuit. That is a background in law and business that anyone would relish.
Moreover, none of this controversy over the bigamy or divorce appears to have affected Grayson’s political ambitions or position. On July 9, 2015, his announced his candidacy for the United States Senate.
Randyjet,
You might be right. I did some more research on this. According to both lawyers and the courts, Mrs. Grayson, who is now on her 6th lawyer, backed out of a settlement deal at the last minute. According to Politico, Huffington Post, and the Orlando sentinel, Mr. Grayson was paying her $10k a month? The settlement deal would’ve allowed her to stay at home (but not in the same home that she currently resides in) and receive a check from Mr. Grayson. Mr. Grayson’s $10k a month is not cash to her but toward the mortgage, utilities, car note, etc. This is how she is able to receive public assistance. Furthermore, 2 of the children are staying with him.
I am sure she regrets not charging him with rape now. There would be no video to contradict her too.
randyjet – this is the perfect time for her to claim that since adultery is not illegal, he owes her the money. And [lay the polygamy card.
the only issue remaining in this case is the custody of the children and support for them.
whatever happened between grayson and the woman who fraudulently entered into a marriage ceremony with him is past.
infant children are wards of the court, and the court is obligated to make a determination about what is *now* in their best interests.
She got old. Remember how Rhett Butler walked away from Scarlett when she got that touch of gray in her hair.
Of course, since he prefaced his comment with K Street, that no rational person could take it as an actual claim that she is in fact a real whore. In fact, I am sure he regards most if not all who work on K street as whores and that in fact sex workers would be preferable to those folks since the sex workers do less damage to us and our morals.
Are you sure that resume is correct? Having listened to Grayson, I thought he was the reincarnation of Huey Long. I though community college at best and middling grades there.
“So she can make false claims, violate all kinds of laws, and SHE is the victim? GET REAL!”
Your anti-feminist rant has been noted for the record.
For example, in colleges across the US, women can make false claims, violate all kinds of laws, and STILL be the victim.
If she had a good lawyer, she’d charge him with rape.
I think that those who are politically opposed to Grayson would still be outraged at him if she had tried to kill him. Their only concern would be that she did not succeed and get ALL of his assets. Typical GOP morality, get rich by any means necessary. So please spare us any crocidile tears about this violent crooked woman. So she can make false claims, violate all kinds of laws, and SHE is the victim? GET REAL!
“So she can make false claims, violate all kinds of laws, and SHE is the victim? GET REAL!”
She may have committed crimes; she certainly made mistakes. However she did work to create a family over 2 decades, had children and raised them.
To suggest she has nothing coming after all these years is an example of how as a community we de-value traditional ‘women’s work’.
If you value family and the benefits to society that family provides then it is essential to find ways to reward and protect those who spend their lives creating family. To claim this woman deserves nothing because she is beyond some legalistic view of marriage makes a mockery of family values.
JT,
We need more info to this story. How old is Mrs. Grayson? How old are the children? How old is Mr. Grayson? How do you not know if someone is married or not? Did he meet her parents? Other relatives? Someone had to know, but decided not to tell him? How did the courts allow this to happen? Can I be married to a woman in Texas and to different a woman in Illinois at the same time? Who has the children right now? Does she have a good or decent educational and/or work background as he? Is he divorcing her because of this or something else?
There has to be more to this saga.
Grayson said of lobbyist, Linda Robertson”
How can you not gush?
I rather like Grayson’s blunt comments.Now if you can show me that Robertson worked as an actual economist and has a degree in that subject, THEN I will agree his comments were out of line. Absent that, the criticism fails. I am sure he would be happy to call a man a whore too since as W Bush proved in granting press credentials and a White House pass to a gay male whore that such things are not restricted to women.
Maybe it is time to give the concept of palimony a second look.
I think that her name should have been a dead giveaway to her character. While it is too bad that she is on welfare, it is HER fault entirely. I cannot blame Grayson for cutting her off since she has shown no decency or commn sense on her part. Being compassionate will simply wind up not changing her ways.
While I am a supporter of Grayson’s politics I was not aware of his outstanding background and accomplishments. I am even more impressed by him.
He is a true Patriot:
On MSNBC’s Ed Show, ruminating about why Bush might have rejected Obama’s invite to commemorate the death of bin Laden at Ground Zero
– Alan Grayson,
Grayson should have followed the Trump model: Backround check, blood test and prenuptial agreement.
Well, he lost my vote. Married to the man for 25 years, and having four of his children and she is a gold digger? AND he seeks to deprive her of any custody. He is a cruel man.
Whoops did I say Mrs. Grayson? That was a mistake. She isn’t Mrs Grayson and apparently never was.
Sorry…while I agree he is being aggressive and vindictive, Mrs. Grayson entered into a “marriage” knowing full well she was not legally qualified to do so and she has continued the charade for years. I am afraid I have no sympathy for her. I am concerned however about the children who are being subjected to this circus. I hope they are being shielded as much as possible.
He is perhaps the greatest of Democrats.
Here are some of his best quotes:
http://www.motherjones.com/files/images/filibuster.gif
In the big mix of egos found in politicians, this is nothing.
What a despicable man. His bigamous wife is now on public assistance? He may relish his legal victory, but I find the fruit of his actions deplorable.