In divorce documents that were previously public but have now been sealed, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) accuses her now ex-husband, Gail Ernst, of being both physically and emotionally abusive toward her, according to documents Local 5 has obtained.
Local 5 has obtained court documents from Gail Ernst’s divorce filing on this matter as well.
In August, Sen. Ernst announced that she and her husband would be divorcing after 27 years of marriage. Now, we are learning more from both sides about why the marriage was unraveling.
According to Sen. Ernst, her husband began a “special friendship” with their daughter’s babysitter.
“He began hanging out at the babysitter’s house, even when [their daughter] wasn’t there. I confronted him about the situation, and we went through a very dark and troubling time in our marriage. I very nearly filed for divorce after a night that we argued, and it became physical. I fled the house (with their daughter) and went to my mother’s house in the middle of the night,” said Ernst, according to the court documents.
In Gail Ernst’s petition for temporary alimony and attorney fees, he stated that after “filing for divorce I allowed Joni to stay at the house because I believed that we could be civil with each other…that didn’t work out very well…”
Gail Ernst described in the court documents obtained by Local 5 that his wife began exhibiting “very bizarre behavior…” and that he didn’t “believe it is safe or proper for Joni to stay at the house any longer. She stays in hotels on tax-payer expense at no charge to her. I must travel 2-3 hours to stay with one of my daughters.”
According to court documents, Gail Ernst said that the couple’s daughter “asked her not to” run for U.S. Senate. “Friends begged her not to do it….I gave up all my aspirations and goals to be a good dad and husband so Joni could pursue her dreams…”
Documents from Sen. Ernst’s account show a different side of Gail Ernst. According to the divorce papers, Joni Ernst opened Gail’s Hotmail account on their 25th wedding anniversary last July and “what I found devastated me.” Her affidavit said: “There were e-mails in his account from a long-time girlfriend, Carla Rickert, and they were planning their respective divorces. There were disgusting sexual discussions, sharing of financials, scheming, demeaning talk about me and Carla’s husband, discussions about where they would live, house floor plans, etc. I started a downward spiral of not sleeping and eating, and I rapidly lost 17 pounds, about 13% of my body weight. My staff had to cancel two days of my appointments because I couldn’t function.”
Gail Ernst responded in his court filing by saying he never had an affair, and alleged that “she dated other men while in D.C.”
Sen. Ernst said in her filing that “the last several years have been very tense, with my work responsibilities being very heavy, but very successful, and Fail doing whatever he wanted. In the summer of 2016. I was interviewed by Candidate Trump to be the Vice President…I turned Candidate Trump down, knowing it wasn’t the right thing for me or my family.”
Sen. Ernst alleged in the documents that her now ex-husband “hated any successes I had, and would belittle me and get angry any time I achieved a goal.”
Ernst is running for her second term as U.S. Senator. She has planned events in several Iowa counties the next two days. Local 5 will seek comment from her at that time.
Gail Ernst is seeking alimony of $4,000 a month. Mr. Ernst said, “I should not have to seek employment to be able to continue with my standard of living, considering that I have served my country for 28 years on active duty as an Airborne Ranger.”
Senator Ernst also served her country and was the first female combat war veteran elected to the Senate and the first female Senator ever in Iowa history.
Local 5 has reached out to Gail Ernst’s attorney and Sen. Ernst’s office for comment. Neither has responded to our requests.
