Posted on 05/30/2008 7:55:37 AM PDT by XR7
ELIZABETH, N.J. -- Opposing sides in the divorce trial of New Jersey's gay ex-governor focused on his estranged wife Thursday in an acrimonious dispute over whether she is entitled to collect on the opulent lifestyle she lost when a sex scandal toppled his administration.
Dina Matos -- who said she now prefers to be called by her maiden name -- faces more tough questions Friday after spending all day on the witness stand Thursday.
Under gentle questioning from her lawyer in the morning, Matos painted herself as a dutiful spouse and loyal political partner of former Gov. James McGreevey. But under a heated cross-examination in the afternoon, she was badgered into acknowledging that she was just another unpaid member of his political team.
Raw Video: Dina Matos Testifies Thursday
She grew agitated as she was grilled by McGreevey lawyer Stephen Haller about her contributions to his two gubernatorial campaigns and her ability to earn money after his resignation.
Matos, who was married to McGreevey for four years before they split in 2004, is trying to show she should be compensated for the 13 more months she would have lived in the governor's mansion had her husband not resigned in disgrace.
The 41-year-old hospital executive said she will be unemployed as of Saturday when the hospital closes.
She is asking for alimony and child support, and has asked the judge to award payments based in part on her husband's conduct during the marriage. In his "I am a gay American" resignation speech, McGreevey said he had an affair with a male staffer while married to Matos. The staffer denies the affair and says he was sexually harassed by the governor.
McGreevey, 50, now a seminary student, made $48,000 last year from part-time teaching and consulting work. He contends he is too poor to pay alimony and that the trial has put him more than $200,000 in debt.
Matos testified Thursday that her lifestyle plummeted from luxurious to modest when she had to leave the governor's mansion four years ago.
"Obviously, I don't have a state police vehicle, no driver, no security, no housekeeping manager or other staff, chefs and groundskeepers, that were available. I also pay the mortgage, all the utilities and other expenses," she testified.
McGreevey contends that the governor's office perks are not a marital asset.
Matos said she can no longer afford to shop for her daughter's clothes at high-end boutiques, has taken only one vacation and borrowed $100,000 from a friend to make a down payment on her $430,000 Union County house. She said she has $250,000 in outstanding legal bills, excluding the costs of the divorce trial.
She also said she cannot offer her daughter the things she enjoys when she stays with her father at his boyfriend's house in Plainfield. There she has her own bathroom and playroom and can play on grounds designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York's Central Park.
Matos testified that she was deeply proud to be New Jersey's first lady, but that she doesn't expect to return to that lifestyle unless she hits the lottery. Even though no longer in that role, she said it continues to influence her life.
"Once you're in that role, I believe people expect you to conduct yourself in that manner," she said.
Earlier, she testified that it was McGreevey's idea to live in the governor's mansion. She said she went along even though the move to Princeton added an hour each way onto her daily commute.
She said she continued to work after their only daughter was born because McGreevey wanted her to.
"Jim thought it would enhance his image to have me continue to work, so I decided to continue," she said.
“Matos said she can no longer afford to shop for her daughter’s clothes at high-end boutiques,”
Get used to it, gold-digger.
“Obviously, I don’t have a state police vehicle, no driver, no security, no housekeeping manager or other staff, chefs and groundskeepers, that were available. I also pay the mortgage, all the utilities and other expenses,” she testified.
Welcome to my world, Girlfriend.
Get a job, take care of your kids and move on with your life.
I have a hard time believing she didn’t know something was up with this creep when she married him.
And he’s now in Seminary school? Yee Gawds!
She should get nothing for her husband's infidelity. If his behavior is grounds for adjusting alimony then plenty of cheating women deserve to pay the same price when it comes time to settling marital property.
They really deserved one another.
You are right.
And before "no-fault" divorce laws were passed throughout the states, that is exactly what would have happened, in the good ol' days.
Maybe she can start another left wing, anti-American website like that other woman whose ex-husband became a fruit, Arianna Huffington.
Words defy my disgust and anguish at that statement.
Amen, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Agreed. I don’t really think she could be so bad that I wouldn’t award her every red cent that pervert ‘husband’ of hers has.
Ugh
She could move to Chicago, take Michelle Obama's job, and make 325K a year. Should solve all her problems, and she has to be more pleasant to be around than Michelle.
This disgraced ex-governor who is living with his boyfriend is attending seminary school?
He needs to be working and supporting his daughter and ex-wife.
I want to know which school he attends, and for what purpose.
That place should be thoroughly discredited.
And what’s with a bank lending her hundreds of thousands for a house after she borrowed 100,000 from a friend and owes so much money, and her job just ended? No bank would lend me enough $ to buy a Kia and my financial woes are in the hundreds, not in the hundreds of thousands.
Hey toots - friggin' move out of socialist NJ, there are tons of medical jobs available elsewhere, just take the child support and get out of the limelight and start over. Sheesh.
“She’s a hospital executive and can’t find a job???”
Democrat Political Patronage can be a real bitch when you fall out of favor....
Good Lord, she should be bull-whipped.
The rich are different from you and me.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald
See #18 above.
She’s not trying to get this money from the taxpayers, is she???
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