The United
States's first openly gay governor tried to convince the
judge in his divorce case Wednesday that he's too poor
to pay alimony, saying he's been financially crippled
by his resignation and marital troubles.
Former New Jersey
governor James McGreevey said he has limited income and
few assets and is all but unemployable these days.
''I got my
furnishings at a Huffman Koos going-out-of-business sale,''
McGreevey said when asked to describe his belongings.
He and his wife,
Dina Matos McGreevey, have been separated since he left
office in November 2004, three months after he said he had
an affair with a male staffer and planned to resign.
The staffer denies he had an affair with McGreevey and
accused him of sexual harassment.
The couple have
agreed on custody of their only child, 6-year-old
Jacqueline, but are fighting over alimony, child support,
and how to divide their assets and liabilities.
Matos McGreevey
is asking the court to award her alimony and additional
money based on the contention that McGreevey committed
marriage fraud. She says she was duped into marriage
by a gay man who needed the cover of a wife to advance
his political career.
McGreevey
counters that his wife, whom he married in 2000, should have
known he was gay and that for most of their marriage, she
made more money than him.
He spent hours on
the stand Wednesday detailing his jobs and sources of
income.
''Because of this
case, I have been financially crippled,'' he said.
He was expected
to return to the stand Thursday morning.
Now an Episcopal
seminary student, McGreevey, 50, said he owes a prior
divorce lawyer at least $116,000 and has not paid his first
ex-wife any child support this year. He said he relies
on his boyfriend to pay legal bills and other
expenses.
McGreevey said he
is indifferent to money and passed up opportunities to
increase his income during his marriage by instead running
for public office.
Before he took
the stand, McGreevey lawyer Stephen Haller told the judge
the ex-governor should not have to pay alimony to his wife
because the couple's ''short-term marriage'' does not
qualify for her for it. Haller accused Matos
McGreevey, 41, of having an ''emotional vendetta'' against
his client.
Haller also said
Dina Matos McGreevey's earnings exceeded her husband's
during about half of their marriage.
John Post, who
represents Dina Matos McGreevey, said it was ''absurd''
that the two partners had equal earnings, and said McGreevey
is underestimating his earning potential.
Post noted that
that McGreevey earned $429,000 in 2006 and $185,000 last
year.
During his
testimony, McGreevey said he proposed writing a tell-all
book with his estranged wife, but she turned him down
and later wrote her own memoir.
McGreevey said he
was initially offered $1 million to write his life
story shortly after leaving office in disgrace, but later
signed a book contract for far less. He said his goal
was not to make money, but to help gay and lesbian
teenagers who might find the courage to live openly
after reading about his life as a closeted gay man.
''It was about my
failures, my sins,'' McGreevey said of his book, The
Confession. (Angela Delli Santi, AP)
