Third alleged affair tied to C Street Christian dorm
By Raw Story Published: July 17, 2009
The last month has been tough for some Republicans. But, apparently, even worse for their wives.
After a sitting governor and a senator both admitted marital infidelities, the wife of a former congressman is alleging that an affair her husband rekindled with an old flame not only broke up his marriage, but also ruined his political career.
Strangely enough, all FOUR(see addendum below) have ties to the same house on C Street.
“A Capitol Hill townhouse that serves as a dormitory and meeting place for a band of conservative Christian lawmakers has been linked to a third episode of marital infidelity, this time in a Mississippi court filing by a former lawmaker’s estranged wife,” Jonathan Allen reports for CQ Politics.
Allen notes, “In an ‘alienation of affection’ lawsuit, former Rep. Charles W. Pickering Jr.’s estranged wife, Leisha, alleges that he carried on an extramarital affair with a onetime college sweetheart while he lived at a house at 133 C Street in Southeast Washington. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., both of whom admitted to cheating on their wives in recent weeks, are members of the Christian fellowship of lawmakers known as ‘C Street’ for the address of the house where several of the members live at any given time.”
According to Roll Call’s Jackie Kucinich, “Leisha Pickering alleged in the court document that the Mississippi Republican’s decision to leave the House at the end of the 110th Congress came after Creekmore-Byrd told him ‘as long as he remained in public life that she and he could not have a private life together.’”
More from Roll Call:
The complaint also asserts that Creekmore-Byrd’s ultimatum led to Pickering’s decision to not seek the Senate seat vacated by Lott.
“Ultimately, Creekmore-Byrd gave Pickering the option to remain a public servant or become a private citizen and continue relations with her,” the complaint reads.
Politico notes, “Pickering is now a lobbyist for Cellular South, a telecom company owned by Creekmore Byrd’s family.”
At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall observes, “You remember the C Street Group, the combo Bible fellowship and group home for members of Congress up on Capitol Hill. But it’s been occurring to us that the C Street Group, which is an emanation of a shadowy religious outfit called ‘the Family’, might not be a religious fellowship at all so much as a covert 12 Step Group from Republican Hound Dogs, womanizers and sex addicts trying to get clean during their tenure in the hallowed halls of Congress.”
A PDF of Leisha Pickering’s complaint can be accessed at this link.
ADDENDUM: Republican Louisiana Senator David Vitter is also a part of this Cheat Street Cabal.On July 10, 2007, Jeanette Maier, the "Canal Street Madam", testified that Vitter was a customer on more than one occasion in the 1990s, when Maier was identified by federal prosecutors as operating a $300 per hour brothel and that he favored one prostitute in particular, Wendy Cortez.
Republican senators gave Vitter a "loud standing ovation", which is hypocritical becauseof the Republican attitude toward Clinton's marital infidelity. The applause came after Vitter privately apologized to his colleagues for the affair with the prostitute.
Republican Senator Sam Brownback saidn on October 5, 2007 that Vitter should be censured by the Senate. He said, "I think you could see something like that taking place. If you look at the actual crime itself and the discussion across the country – and as a Republican – this is bad."
Labels: affair, C Street, cheat, Christian, Ensign, lawmakers, Pickering, republican, Sanford, The Family, Vitter
