Excerpts From Jack Ryan's Divorce Papers
The following are excerpts from Ryan court papers:

Jeri Lynn Ryan

I made clear to Respondent that our marriage was over for me in the spring of 1998. On three trips, one to New Orleans, one to New York, and one to Paris, Respondent insisted that I go to sex clubs with him. They were long weekends, supposed 'romantic' getaways. ...

"The clubs in New York and Paris were explicit sex clubs. Respondent had done research. Respondent took me to two clubs in New York during the day. One club I refused to go in. It had mattresses in cubicles. The other club he insisted I go to. ... It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling. Respondent wanted me to have sex with him there, with another couple watching. I refused. Respondent asked me to perform a sexual activity upon him, and he specifically asked other people to watch. I was very upset. We left the club, and Respondent apologized, said that I was right and that he would never insist I go to a club again. He promised it was out of his system.

"Then during a trip to Paris, he took me to a sex club in Paris, without telling me where we were going. I told him I thought it was out of his system. I told him he had promised me would never go. People were having sex everywhere. I cried, I was physically ill. Respondent became very upset with me, and said it was not a 'turn on' for me to cry.

"In September 1998, I told Respondent it was not just Paris, I had been unhappy for years. We briefly tried counseling, but it did not work. ... I told him I was in love with another man, whom I fell in love with after our relationship had fallen apart that spring."

Jack Ryan:

"I should not have to respond to the ridiculous allegations Jeri Lynn makes in these two paragraphs. I was faithful and loyal to my wife throughout our marriage. I did arrange romantic getaways for us, but that did not include the type of activities she describes. We did go to one avant garde nightclub in Paris which was more than either one of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return. I feel very badly for Alex that his mother would mischaracterize our activities and try to libel me and our relationship in this manner. Jeri Lynn knows I have political aspirations, because I had them throughout our marriage. She attended many political functions with me and testified about them at her deposition. In addition, Jeri Lynn is a celebrity and it is extremely likely that the press will go to our public divorce file. Apparently, Jeri Lynn did not consider how Alex will feel about his parents or himself when he learns of this type of smut.

"Petitioner says we briefly tried counseling. This is incorrect. I pleaded for counseling when she told me she was unhappy with me in late October, but she only agreed to an introductory telephone call and refused follow-up visits in person. ...

"Jeri Lynn may have believed our relationship was over in the spring of 1998, but I didn't and had no reason to. We were still living as husband and wife and acting with each other in that way. She obviously kept her love affair from my knowledge until I discovered it shortly before she filed for divorce."
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Wow, talk about skeletons in ones closet! :huh:

This is good news for the Democrats here in Illinois and the challenger Barak Obama. I hate all this gossip though. Obama can win on issues alone and he was way ahead anyway.
Barak Obama is going to be a wonderful Senator. Presidential material they say.

In 2012 it will be Harold Ford Jr for President with Obama as VP, only if Al Gore isn't running for re-election that year.

What a wonderful ticket that will be! Two very wonderful african-american men. Harold Ford, Jr. would have been THE pick for VP this year but he is a year too young. The only thing about him is his family is on the "interesting" side. (Uncle John, the State Senator weilded a shot gun at the utility people for making too much noise..amongst other things.)
The sad thing is Harold Ford, Jr could probably never win a state-wide election in this political climate in Tennessee...TN has gone so far to the right. :dripple:

Wow, just realized who Jack's wife was:



She is hot! I know her from playing on Boston Public and Star Trek along with various movies. Dang, I did'nt know that was his wife. :lol:

EX-WIFE! She divorced that Republican! :clap:

Yeh...they replaced Kess with her, Seven of Nine..during the last few seasons of Star Trek Voyager...to get the young male demographic! :P

Appears Ryan will drop out soon:

http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_...ld&c=26,1029987

Ryan considers quitting Illinois Senate race
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan, his candidacy in turmoil over sex club allegations, is considering quitting the race, knowledgeable GOP officials said Thursday.

Ryan weighed his political future privately while his campaign insisted publicly that he would remain on the ticket. “Jack Ryan is in the race to stay,” said a spokeswoman, Kelli Phiel.

But one GOP source said the campaign intended to conduct an overnight poll to gauge Ryan’s political strength and to determine whether a massive infusion of personal funds could revive his candidacy.

Another official said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who has maintained a conspicuous public silence about the controversy, agreed with fellow Illinois Republicans during the day that Ryan should step down.

Republicans say it is Hastert who holds the greatest sway over Ryan’s candidacy. He can’t force Ryan off the ticket but can cut off funding and pressure him to leave.

The full Illinois congressional delegation discussed Ryan at a luncheon Thursday, and the Republican members later met privately in Hastert’s office to talk about the growing controversy.

Afterward, Rep. Judy Biggert suggested they had reached a consensus about Ryan, but she wouldn’t say what it was.

Rep. Henry Hyde called the sex club allegations in Ryan’s divorce records serious. As he left Hastert’s office, he said he didn’t know whether he believed the allegations, but he said, “I think people are affronted by bizarre conduct.”

“I think the speaker is going to withhold comment until he has a chance to talk to Mr. Ryan,” said Hastert’s chief spokesman, John Feehery. He said Ryan and Hastert had not had a chance to speak since the divorce records were made public Monday, and he didn’t know when they would.

Ryan was in Chicago Thursday, and campaign communications director Bill Pascoe said he was not giving interviews.

Elections - AP Senate
GOP Sources: Ryan to Abandon Senate Bid

32 minutes ago


By DAVID ESPO and RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON - Illinois Republican candidate Jack Ryan intends to abandon his Senate bid after four days spent trying to weather a political storm stirred by sex club allegations, GOP officials said Friday.

A formal announcement was expected within hours, said these officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support in the wake of the allegations made by his ex-wife in divorce records unsealed earlier this week. Aides said in advance his only options were to withdraw or to redouble his campaign efforts with a massive infusion of money from his personal wealth.

Illinois GOP leaders would select another candidate in the event of a withdrawal. Ryan's replacement would become an instant underdog in a campaign against Democratic State Sen. Barack Obama.

One official said a withdrawal statement was in the drafting stages. Two officials said Ryan's staff was spreading the word of his intentions. "He knows he can't go on," said one official, who spoke with the campaign.

Illinois Republican Party leaders convened a teleconference, although it wasn't clear whether they had yet turned to discussion of who might replace Ryan some four months before the November election.

While polls have shown Ryan trailing Obama from the start, several party strategists said they were concerned about the impact on Republicans running for the state legislature and other offices if he stayed on the ballot.

The Senate election is to replace Republican Peter Fitzgerald, who decided not to seek a second term.

Ryan has been struggling for political survival since Monday, when divorce records were released showing that his ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, said he took her to sex clubs and tried to pressure her to perform sex acts while others watched. Ryan has denied the allegations.

Although Fitzgerald and the National Republican Senatorial Committee stood by Ryan, he came under immediate pressure from many GOP officials in his home state to relinquish his nomination.

Members of the state's GOP congressional delegation met with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., on Thursday to discuss the issue, and one official said afterward that the speaker concurred that Ryan needed to step aside.

Hastert declined to elaborate Friday, simply saying, "That's up to him. It's his choice. It's not whether I want to or not."

Fitzgerald said Friday that he had encouraged Ryan to stay in the race, calling the response to the scandal "grotesque."

"I told him that it troubled me greatly that so many party leaders who had no trouble stomaching years and years of corruption and insider deals and scandals under George Ryan were now lining up to throw stones at Jack (no relation to George Ryan)," Fitzgerald said.

"I think the public stoning of Jack Ryan is one of the most grotesque things I've seen in politics," he said. He said he talked to Ryan on Thursday but hadn't spoken with him since then.

Ryan, 44, was seen by many as the party's best hope of revitalization after a devastating 2002 election, in which Illinois Republicans lost control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office, and an ongoing corruption scandal involving former Gov. George Ryan, who has since been indicted.

But those hopes were dashed by the unsealing of his divorce records. Ryan had fought the unsealing, saying it would harm his 9-year-old son. The Chicago Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued to have the records released.



Ryan had no public appearances planned Friday and his campaign staff did not return calls. Campaign spokesman Kelli Phiel declared repeatedly Thursday that "Jack Ryan is in the race to stay," even as Ryan saw GOP support dwindle even further during the day.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Republican Party prepared for a previously scheduled evening leadership retreat designed to advise GOP candidates on winning in November.

The GOP cannot force Ryan off the ballot, but if he drops out before Aug. 27, the party can put up a new candidate. Among those mentioned: state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger and dairy owner Jim Oberweis, both of whom lost to Ryan in the primary, and former state Board of Education (news - web sites) chairman Ron Gidwitz.

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Associated Press Writer Dennis Conrad in Washington and Maura Kelly Lannan in Chicago contributed to this report.