For all their talk of a war on women, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have put their full backing behind a former congressman who lost his seat two years ago amid allegations that he had physically attacked his ex-wife.
Pelosi accused Republicans of waging a “war on women’s rights” earlier this year. She’s also suggested that Republicans don’t “respect the judgement of women in America” during a press conference with EMILY’s List president Stephanie Schriock, who said Republicans “want to send us so far back we’re going to be in the kitchen.” To stop Republicans, Pelosi’s leadership PAC has given $8,000 to a man whose wife accused him of grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into a refrigerator.
Former Rep. Charlie Wilson, D, has also been added to the DCCC’s Red-to-Blue program as he tries to retake his old southeast Ohio seat. Wilson lost re-election in 2010 after the release of his 1990 divorce records, in which his wife Clara accused him of beating her when they were married.
The main complaint of abuse in the divorce file concerns a 1989 incident, which occurred after Clara Wilson refused to obey her husband’s order that she step down from the American Heart Association board.
Charles’ anger arose at his wife’s daring to oppose his demands. He jumped out of his chair and grabbed her about the neck as he slammed her into the refrigerator. He then grabbed her about both arms, shaking her as they both went over to the kitchen counter, which Mrs. Wilson struck with enough force to take the breath out of her. She then fell to the floor, hitting the bottom door to the sink. As she laid there stunned, she couldn’t move her head or pick up her arm.
Charles admits to grabbing plaintiff by the arms and shaking her. He admits grabbing her around the neck with one hand. He admits bruising plaintiffs’ arms and neck.
The divorce filing states that Mrs. Wilson went to the hospital and told the doctor that she became bruised after falling down the stairs. “The physician’s observation of a bruise on the back of the right shoulder was inconsistent with a fall down the stairs,” the court filing says. “He questioned her further and learned of her husband’s assault.”
Wilson, who was first elected in 2006, remains a key part of Pelosi’s and the Democrats’ effort to re-take the House. According to Open Secrets, Pelosi’s PAC to the Future leadership PAC had given Wilson $8,000 as of September 3rd of this year. The DCCC also lists Wilson as one of the candidates in their Red-to-Blue program this year.
Wilson, a moderate during his two terms in Congress, has displayed his gratitude by releasing an television advertisement that “hits Nancy Pelosi [and] Barack Obama,” as The Huffington Post put it on September 10th.
