And now you know, as Paul Harvey used to growl, the rest of the story. The divorced wife of House Speaker Glenn Richardson granted an interview to Fox 5 TV Monday and said that the factors in Richardson’s recent suicide attempt were “power and control,” not depression.
“I don’t think it was because he was depressed. I think it was power and control that motivated him to do this,” Richardson told Dale Russell in an interview that aired Monday night.
“I don’t really believe it was really an attempt to take his life,” she added. “I think it was for attention and he got it.”
Susan Richardson has avoided talking to the media since her divorce was finalized in February 2008, about a year after an ethics complaint accused Richardson of having an “inappropriate relationship” with a young, blonde Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist. She indicated in the interview that she came forward now in part because she felt that her former husband and others were blaming her for his depression.
Susan Richardson’s interview can be viewed here.
Glenn Richardson took an overdose of sleeping pills on Nov. 8 and was subsequently taken to a hospital after his mother made a 911 call to Paulding County authorities. He blamed the incident on his depression but has said he intends to retain the speaker’s job.
Here’s how Susan Richardson described the aftermath of the attempted divorce:
Richardson said that her ex-husband wanted to reconcile and was livid that she had started dating. In November, Richardson went out of town on a trip and she left her children with her ex-husband.
Richardson said that during the weekend, her ex-husband sent her 49 text messages, accusing her of abandoning the children, threatening to turn her into Division of Family and Children Services, beat her up and use the Georgia State patrol and GBI to look for her.
“It’s not about our marriage ending. He’s lost control of me. He doesn’t like that,” said Richardson.
Richardson said the tension between her and her ex-husband escalated on Sunday, November 8 when she refused to talk to him or return his calls.
That night, Glenn Richardson’s mother called 911, telling rescue workers that her son told her he had taken pills and was trying to kill himself.
“He called me from his hospital room, the next day, and said, ‘Now, are you going to take me back?’ I said, ‘No, I’m not going to take you back. I’m furious with you, the pain you’ve caused everyone who loves you,’” said Susan Richardson.
Susan Richardson said she didn’t believe her ex-husband suffered from depression and he often threatened to commit suicide. Richardson contended that it was in an effort to control those around him. “He did this before, when he got caught by me for having an affair with someone,” said Richardson.
When asked if she was referring to the “alleged inappropriate relationship” that was the source of a state ethics complaint filed against Glenn Richardson in 2006 Susan Richardson responded, “It’s not an alleged inappropriate relationship. It was a full out affair and I knew about it.”
Richardson said her husband admitted to her he was having an affair with a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas Light after she found their airline tickets to Las Vegas. Richardson said she obtained emails that spelled out a long, intimate relationship between Richardson and the lobbyist.
According to Susan Richardson, when rumors of the affair surfaced at the Capitol, the woman wrote that she was afraid her Atlanta Gas Light boss would fire her.
Richardson said her ex-husband responded, “He will not fire you!! I can and will bring all hell down on them if they do.”
That year, Atlanta Gas Light lobbied for a bill, co-sponsored by Richardson that allowed them to build a $300 million pipeline. The bill passed in the House but stalled in the Senate.
The alleged relationship between Glenn Richardson and the lobbyist sparked rumors and a conflict of interest complaint against Richardson. Richardson called the complaint a “baseless political attack.”
“He had his wife, had his family. He looked good and he had girlfriends on the side. That worked pretty well for him. He didn’t want to give that up,” said Susan Richardson.
Glenn Richardson’s office did not comment on the remarks made by his former wife in the interview.
While there was an attempt to unseat Richardson as speaker last year, that attempt fell short. After his suicide attempt last month, there were no public calls from within the Republican House caucus for Richardson to step down as speaker, although the Brunswick News has editorialized that he should give up the job.
Ironically, on the same day that Fox aired the interview with Susan Richardson, two legislators who were part of the attempt to replace Richardson as speaker with Rep. David Ralston last year said they were happy with the current state of the House leadership.
The Athens Banner-Herald reported:
“Everything’s fine,” said state Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn. “Everybody’s supporting him. We’re going to go back and work for the people of Georgia.”
England and colleague Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson, were part of a failed effort in 2008 to install state Rep. David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, as speaker due to concerns about Richardson’s bullying style and emotional outbursts. Lawmakers say he’s learned his lesson and toned it down . . .
Benton, who like Richardson is divorced, said he sympathizes with Richardson and also wants him to continue as speaker.
“I feel for him,” Benton said. “I understand he’s under a lot of pressure.”
In her TV interview, Susan Richardson addressed this statement to her former husband:
“I’m clean of all your secrets. I hold no more. I don’t want to be involved in this anymore. You are on your own.”
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