Free Republic

December 12, 2009 Baucus' Ex-Wife Once Defended Anita Hill Against 'Thug' Senators Wanda Baucus, dragged into the spotlight by the revelation that her divorce from Sen. Max Baucus of Montana may have been plotted partly by his staffer-turned-girlfriend, once spoke out on behalf of Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas' contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings Wendy Baucus said at the time that Hill had suffered at the hands of senators acting like "a bunch of thugs." Now Wendy Baucus is suffering at the hand of her ex-husband, after a Lee Newspapers report on billing documents that show Sen. Baucus' former state...

Looks like Larry Craig in a wig.

The last person to know that Sen. Max Baucus wanted a divorce may have been his wife of 25 years. It appears that Wanda Baucus was in the dark even as a member of Baucus' staff -- Melodee Hanes, the woman who is now his live-in girlfriend -- was plotting out the senator's life without a wife. Hanes, Baucus' former state director, reportedly met at least twice with the Montana Democrat's divorce attorney eight months before the senator and his wife separated. That revelation, reported by Lee Newspapers on Thursday, adds a twist of intrigue to a story that broke...

What would a “state director” have to do with overseas Senate junkets? It apparently helps if the state director is dating the Senator who takes the junket. The Hill reports that Melodee Hanes, Max Baucus’ girlfriend and his state director, traveled with Baucus on taxpayer funds to the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam in 2008, just before Baucus nominated her to be a US Attorney (via Libertarian Republican): Former U.S. attorney nominee Melodee Hanes traveled abroad with Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and six other staff members twice at the end of 2008, both times as a member of the lawmaker’s...

Former U.S. attorney nominee Melodee Hanes traveled abroad with Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and six other staff members twice at the end of 2008, both times as a member of the lawmaker's office. Those two trips -- to the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam -- occurred while Hanes was serving in an official capacity as the state director for the Montana Democrat, but before Baucus recommended her for an attorney position she later turned down. Joining Baucus on both stops, which featured discussions about international trade and education opportunities, were William Dauster, a staff director for the Senate Finance Committee;...

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., issued a statement Saturday regarding the revelation that he had nominated his girlfriend for the job of top federal prosecutor in Montana. Baucus disputed reports that he was having an affair with Melodee Hanes, saying he and Hanes were both separated from their spouses when their relationship began

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Max Baucus says the Montana Democrat was in a romantic relationship with the woman he nominated for U.S. attorney. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was already involved with his girlfriend and former staffer when he recommended her earlier this year to become the next U.S. attorney for Montana, a spokesman said. The Montana Democrat and his former state office director Melodee Hanes began their relationship in the summer of 2008, after Baucus separated from his wife, Ty Matsdorf told The Associated Press late Friday. Baucus nominated Hanes for the U.S. attorney post in...