Regina and Don Sipple divorced in 1979. From left: Regina in an early modeling photo and after an alleged 1977 beating by Don.The True Character of a Spin Doctor?snip>
Regina guessed that her ex-husband, Donald Sipple, one of the Republican Party's most successful political consultants, would do everything in his considerable power to portray her as a bad mother who didn't deserve custody of their son. In politics, Sipple was a master of manipulation -- that's why Republican senators and governors and presidential candidates had paid him millions. Sipple's skill at creating emotional and persuasive political advertisements had landed him jobs with some of the GOP's top figures, including Bob Dole, George Bush, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and California Gov. Pete Wilson. Regina, by comparison, was a single mom struggling to raise a son -- 13 years, she and Evan had been alone together. Without a lot of money, without a lot of help -- just each other. Evan didn't even want to live with his father. He wanted to stay with his mother, in California, where he played football and tooled around with computers. But in Regina's experience, her ex-husband didn't hesitate to use the skills of manipulation in his private life as well as his public one, and she worried.
.....
It's not easy to speak up against a man who has made a living discrediting other people's public statements. Now 44 and living in Huntington Beach, California, Regina Sipple declines to speak openly about her ex-husband, saying she fears it would jeopardize Evan's fragile relationship with his father. Evan himself says, "I don't think I can talk because it would really get me in a jam with my dad."
.....
This article is based on court documents, depositions, and transcripts of the custody case. It's also supported by the accounts of friends and relatives of Sipple's ex-wives. Some, worried about the consequences of speaking out within the small world of Republican politics, asked to remain anonymous. But they agreed to speak because they are disturbed that a man they believe to be violent is advising leaders of the GOP........
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1997/09/blow.html