Every time I write a diary about Lyin' Steve LaTourette, the republican representative in OH-14, someone almost always mentions in the comments about his marital issues. Here are some of my favorites:
He lied to his wife.
He was screwing this lobbyist, and doing deals for her, to get laid.
All of this is perfectly fair game. Especially since LaTourette is a pro-family adulterer.
The Katz (D) campaign doesn't really want to talk about LaTourette's infidelity. They say that dirty laundry was all aired in the 2004 election (there were some pretty nasty TV spots run by Capri Cafaro, the millionaire heiress running against Steve in 2004). But the story is so good, it bears repeating here during the campaign season. After all, can we ever get enough Republican hypocrisy?
Steve LaTourette was a Lake County prosecutor, had a few headline cases, and was elected to Congress in 1994 with the Republican Contract On America. He promised to only run for four terms, although he's now running for his seventh. Things were going pretty well for him in Congress, until he made a little phone call to his wife in 2003.
From Salon:
Susan LaTourette never moved to Washington with her husband when he was elected to the House of Representatives in the Republican sweep of 1994. Instead, she chose to stay at home, in suburban Madison, Ohio, with their children. Last October (2003), she said, she was startled to receive his telephone call to tell her "he had a girlfriend and wanted a divorce."
Susan LaTourette told the Hill she never really knew where her husband lived in Washington. "I think Washington corrupts people," she said. "He was a wonderful husband and father, the best I ever saw, until he went there. I told him I was trying to get him out of the dark side -- all that power and greed and people kissing up to them all the time. Now he's one of them. All they care about is getting reelected. I hate them all."
Pretty amazing, isn't it? This loving father of four didn't have the courtesy to come home and tell his wife he wanted a divorce. Instead, he elected to do it over the phone. Classy guy. LaTourette had voted to impeach President Clinton. He had an 84% approval rating from the Chriastian Coalition. But now he has become the poster boy for Republican family values hypocrisy.
The story gets better. Guess who LaTourette's new girlfried was?
But two sources close to Susan LaTourette, the congressman's wife, have told Salon that the lobbyist girlfriend is Steven LaTourette's former chief of staff, Jennifer Laptook, whose work as a vice president for the firm Van Scoyoc Associates consists of pushing the interests of various Ohio-based clients before the staff of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which LaTourette sits. He is also chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.
The affair began when Laptook was on LaTourette's staff. Immediately upon leaving his office in March 2003, she was hired for the lucrative business of influencing LaTourette's committee. Touting her qualifications, the Van Scoyoc Web site states: "As chief of staff, Laptook was responsible for advising on all legislative issues, particularly those that came before the committees on which Congressman LaTourette serves. Laptook worked intimately with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, on which the congressman is a senior member."
For those of you keeping score at home, LaTourette had an affair with a staff member, who then left his office to be hired by a lobbying firm that lobbies a committee that LaTourette chairs. Asked why she was going public with her marital problems, LaTourette's former wife replied: "Because I want to get him back. It's very painful but I just wanted people to be aware of this. Most women who get treated like this can't do anything about it, but I can."
Steve and Jennifer are married now and have a child together (LaTourette's fifth). And Jennifer LaTourette is still doing business with her hiusband. From the Plain Dealer:
Success in marriage business has been good for Jennifer LaTourette, the lobbyist formerly known as Jennifer Laptook. She took U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette's last name after marrying the Concord Township Republican, her former boss, in February. She also has increased her billings with at least two of her clients, new federal lobbying records show. [...]
[T]he Cleveland Clinic recently got $7.1 million from Congress to build a parking garage, and the Port Authority got $6 million for a ferry terminal, it may have been money well spent. Her husband says his new wife doesn't lobby him or the House transportation committee, on which he serves. Mrs. LaTourette is mum on the matter, steadfastly refusing to call back reporters inquiring about her effectiveness in obtaining taxpayer dollars for clients.
I think we can all agree this is hypocritical and sleazy. LaTourette was voted "No Alter Boy" in Washington Magazine for a reason. But what I want to is: How is this legal?