http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-23/the-secret-gop-sex-diary/fullWhile former Rep. Chip Pickering of Mississippi allegedly carried on an extramarital affair with Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd, he recorded details of his exploits in a secret diary, including the dates and locations of his adulterous encounters.
Pickering, a Republican, described several assignations he had with Creekmore Byrd inside the C Street House, a Capitol Hill townhouse inhabited by an all-male group of right-wing Republican congressmen belonging to The Fellowship, an evangelical group, according to a person familiar with the diary's contents.
And according to a divorce filing by Pickering’s estranged wife, Leisha, the former congressman’s diary reveals the identities of several men who enabled his adulterous trysts and helped him cover his tracks.
So who were Pickering’s enablers? Are they or were they ever C Street House residents? And what role did they play, if any, in helping Pickering transform a house that hosted a “Christian men’s accountability group” into his love nest?
Thanks to heavily politicized local courts and an aggressive damage-control campaign waged by Pickering and his powerful Republican allies, the diary, which is said to contain the answers to these questions, is locked away in a courtroom in Mississippi. And if Pickering has his way, it will stay there indefinitely.
snip
A reliable source close to Leisha Pickering’s divorce case has told me that Chip Pickering and local Republican Party bigwigs connected to Barbour’s political allies have applied a full court press on Leisha Pickering, hoping to coerce her into dropping her lawsuit.
The source said Leisha Pickering has become “skittish” about airing her grievances outside the courtroom. She has disclosed to close associates that she still has feelings for her husband of 20 years, with whom she shares five children. What’s more, she remains a devoted Republican who has grown increasingly concerned about the damage her lawsuit might cause her party.