Rep. Bill Foster’s (D-Ill.) ex-wife is disavowing a 1996 court filing that suggested the lawmaker, now mulling a run for the Senate, pushed and shoved her.
Ann Foster said she signed a lawyer’s briefing that made the charges without actually reading it and that the allegations it made were untrue.
{mosads}Her new revelations were made as part of a sit-down interview she and her ex-husband requested with the Chicago Sun-Times.
She says she decided to talk to the Sun-Times now in order to clear the air, so she doesn’t have to answer more questions about the situation.
“Ever since Bill decided to go into politics … every single campaign season since 2008, there are a number of months when I am plagued by constant phone calls. Sometimes in the middle of the night. Dozens of them,” she said. “Maybe we just need to get this on the record … so I can now say, I already told my story. Don’t bother me anymore.”
In the 1996 court filing, Ann Foster said the congressman “has pushed, shoved, and caused physical abuse and emotional harm of the Plaintiff, thereby putting her in fear for not only herself but also for the parties [sic] minor children.”
The divorce filing has been campaign fodder against Foster in the past and could be once again if he decides to challenge Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) next year.
Foster and his former wife ended up leaving court to work through a mediator for the divorce and have remained friends since, the two say.
Foster is one of a half-dozen Democrats who are viewed as possible contenders to challenge Kirk.