Gov. (D) Exchanged 500 Emails With Worker (Adultery Scandal)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Bob Wise and a married state employee exchanged more than 500 e-mails over the past year in which they mostly talked business but also chatted about the Italian language, wine and the weather.

The bulk of the e-mails released Thursday by Wise's office in response to The Associated Press' Freedom of Information Act request reflect efforts by the governor and Angela Mascia-Frye to attract foreign investment to West Virginia.

The governor's office blacked out numerous sections of the e-mails, saying the information was confidential or involved business prospects.

Last week, Wise admitted to being "unfaithful" to his wife and family. He has refused to say if he had an affair with Mascia-Frye, but her husband alleged adultery in a divorce filing and said his wife had an affair with the governor.

Wise's wife, Sandy, released a statement Thursday saying she is "very angry" at him, but the couple was "united in our determination to make our family whole again."

Wise, a Democrat, was elected governor in 2000 after serving 18 years in Congress. The Wises have been married 19 years and have two children.

A review of Mascia-Frye's cell phone records show she made few calls to Wise until after they attended a Detroit auto show in March. After the trip, Mascia-Frye phoned the governor as often as 10 times a day.

Friendly chitchat started creeping into the e-mails in December. A lengthy back-and-forth that lasted for much of January included late-night banter about the respective hunting attire worn by men and women.

"If we ever have a chance to have another glass of Rioja, we can talk about some of this," the governor said in one message.

Cell phone records for Wise were not available because the governor does not have a state-issued cell phone, said Alex Macia, Wise's general counsel, in a letter responding to the AP's FOIA request.

Born to Italian parents, Mascia-Frye had started teaching Italian to Wise, the e-mails show. On March 19, she e-mailed him, in Italian, "I am very content with how things are going."

He replied: "I don't know enough Italian yet to know what you just wrote, but I like the accent!"

Other e-mails show Wise, Mascia-Frye and other officials trying to lure employers from such places as Argentina, Brazil, Italy and France.

Ah, yes, our esteemed reptilian governor. Well, at least he's been drinking Spanish - not French - wine with his paramour. I feel sorry for Sandy Wise, and hope she's not being pressured to be a "good soldier" for the Democrat cause, a la Hillary Clinton.

First lady 'angry' about Wise's affair

By Mannix Porterfield/REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

CHARLESTON - Breaking her silence on an extramarital affair that rocked the Capitol last week, first lady Sandy Wise acknowledged Thursday she is "very angry" about her husband's indiscretions. In a brief statement, she suggested the matter is an issue that should remain within the Governor's Mansion and that the family would seek to mend the rift.

Reporters gathered in Gov. Bob Wise's press office to pore over mountains of paperwork detailing e-mails, cell phone calls and expense vouchers involving him and Angela Mascia-Frye.

Last week, the Charleston Daily Mail quoted Frye's husband, Philip, as saying Wise and his estranged wife had carried on a lengthy affair and he was backing up his claim in a divorce suit with evidence gathered by a private eye. Wise then issued an "apology," saying he had been "unfaithful" to his family, although he didn't identify the other woman.

"The impact of this has not been insignificant," the first lady said in a statement distributed by Wise's press secretary, Amy Shuler-Goodwin. "I am very angry, and the children are disappointed in their father. But that has not changed how much we love him. We still love and respect him for all the reasons we always have. Out of our love for one another, we are united in our determination to make our family whole again."

Sandy Wise said she married "one of the most decent individuals I have ever met" 19 years ago. "What caused him to stray from our marriage is an issue solely for us as husband and wife," she said.

"It is not a topic that belongs to anyone else."

The first lady, a native of Minnesota who met Wise while he served in Congress from the state's 2nd District, expressed thanks for friends who stood behind the couple since last week's revelation. "Our family is very strong, and we are deeply committed to one another," she said.

Wise's legal counsel, Alex Macia, provided reporters with boxes crammed with materials sought by The Associated Press, Daily Mail, The Charleston Gazette and The Register-Herald, covering a wide spectrum of documents. One packet included 541 e-mails Wise and Mascia-Frye exchanged within the past year. Often, the two chatted about various brands of coffee and wine, or official trips involving the Development Office, and Wise's desire to take Italian lessons from the Swiss-born Mascia-Frye, who is fluent in several languages.

"I will hold onto the wine until you come over," she said in a Jan. 24 e-mail.

"I'll have the bottle ready in a bag like the last time. We wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression, would we?"

In another message, Wise is discussing plans for a sports show and the difference in male and female hunters, then comments, "Women don't wear as much camouflage and they don't like tree stands."

To which she replies: "How do you know so much about women?" On another occasion, Wise is providing some advice about dealing with the news media.

"TV is easier since you always know what the camera is covering," the governor advises. "With a print reporter, they can be taking down anything."

The consensus by reporters was that the e-mails hardly suggest a relationship between Wise and Mascia-Frye. The documents also detailed expenses incurred in trips the two made on behalf of the state - Germany, at a cost of $30,372.21; Spain, $21,223.78; and a combined one to Canada and Detroit, $1,240.56. The state auditor's office examined the accounts last week and found nothing amiss.

Much in the documents was blacked out, but Macia said this was necessary to protect the identities of firms with which the state is negotiating. Disclosing their names could hinder the state's economic pursuits, he told reporters. Another reason for some blacked-out materials was one of security, the attorney said, since it's necessary to keep the public from knowing the names and numbers of state troopers assigned to the governor. "The public does not have a reason to know how many troopers are assigned with the governor at any time," he said. Register-Herald

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