Former GOP senator admits to son kept secret for decades
Pete Domenici admitted to fathering a son outside of his marriage over 30 years ago
Topics: Pete Domenici, Republicans, New Mexico, affair, Senate, Nevada, Politics News
Former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.(Credit: AP Photo/File/J. Scott Applewhite)Former Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican from New Mexico, confessed Wednesday to having a son, the result of an affair, who has been kept a secret for over 30 years.
In a statement made to the Albuquerque Journal, Domenici said: ”The mother of that child made me pledge that we would never reveal that parenthood, and I have tried to honor that pledge and so has she.” But, Domenici said, he believed someone else might soon make the story public: “Rather than have others breach this privacy, I have decided to make this statement. These circumstances now compel me to reveal this situation.”
Domenici was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee before stepping down from his seat in 2008, after six terms, for health reasons. He also noted in his statement that his wife (and eight children) have “been aware of these events for several months.”
His son, Adam Paul Laxalt, was born in 1978, and is a former officer of the Navy and current lawyer. Adam Laxalt’s mother, Michelle Laxalt, works as a lobbyist, and is herself the daughter of former Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., who also chaired the Republican National Committee.
In a statement, Michelle Laxalt wrote: ”Recently information has come to me that this sacred situation might be twisted … and shopped to press outlets large and small in a vicious attempt to smear, hurt and diminish Pete Domenici, an honorable man, his extraordinary wife, Nancy, and other innocents.” She described the affair as “one night’s mistake led to pregnancy.”
As the Washington Post points out, Domenici is hardly the first U.S. politician to have a secret child:
Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.
More Related Stories
-
Developers evict historic women's shelter to build luxury hotel
-
Guantánamo prisoner on hunger strike cries for help on Twitter
-
3 possible solutions to international tax avoidance
-
“I just want the U.S. to send my father home”
-
Army weapons engineer tied to white nationalist organizations
-
Ted Cruz against the world
-
David Vitter's hypocritical, punitive, horrible new amendment
-
Louie Gohmert: Women should be forced to carry nonviable pregnancies to term
-
Could hackers destroy the U.S. power grid?
-
Democrats may be even worse than Republicans at regulating Wall Street
-
Eric Holder versus journalism
-
A progressive defense of drones
-
There's no substitute for government disaster relief
-
Holder signed off on search warrant for reporter
-
Mississippi could begin prosecuting women for miscarriages
-
Mike Judge: "Bowling for Columbine" made me pro-gun
-
Closing Gitmo is not enough
-
Murkowski: Palin too disengaged to run for Senate
-
In IRS scandal, new GOP tactic is ignorance
-
Code Pink activist berates Obama at national security speech
-
Cuomo: "Shame on us" if New York City elects Weiner
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
Most Read
-
Judge tells lesbian couple to separate -- or lose kids
-
9-year-old slams Rahm over Chicago schools
-
Greek yogurt, toxic waste hazard?
-
Tornado survivor to Wolf Blitzer: Sorry, I'm an atheist. I don't have to thank the Lord
-
Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer
-
Glenn Beck: CNN interview with atheist tornado survivor was a setup!
-
Graphic video reportedly shows possible London machete attack suspect
-
Joe Francis apologizes for calling jury "retarded"
-
Couple files groundbreaking lawsuit over child's sexual-reassignment surgery
-
Bush cancels Europe trip amid calls for his arrest
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com
115 points116 points117 points | 12 comments
73 points74 points75 points | 18 comments
Hackers In Iran Trying To Sabotage U.S. Energy Companies: Officials
Pioneering Journalist Known For Civil Rights Coverage Dies At 81
Christopher Hayes: London Terror
Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Pivoting To Other News
-
No Evidence FBI Is Targeting Chechen Separatists In Boston Bombing Case, Advocates Say - Welcome Back Weiner Puns
-
Bill De Blasio Won't Be Distracted By Anthony Weiner -
State Roadblocks Could Complicate Marriage Momentum - Obama Calls On Naval Academy Graduates To Help Put An End To Sexual Assault In The Military
Comments
9 Comments