'McGreeveys Argue Over Allowing Aide to Testify at Divorce'

From The Advocate.

The wife of former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey wants to ban testimony in their divorce trial from a former aide who claims he had sexual trysts with the couple.

Dina Matos McGreevey's lawyer argues in court papers that the testimony of former campaign aide Teddy Pedersen is ''irrelevant,'' ''inflammatory,'' ''far-fetched,'' and should not be allowed.

''The only reason for calling him is to elicit salacious sexual testimony,'' her lawyer John Post wrote.

McGreevey lawyer Stephen Haller contends that Pedersen's testimony is relevant to disproving Matos McGreevey's claim that she was duped into marrying a gay man with political ambitions.

Judge Karen Cassidy will rule on the testimony and other issues when the couple's divorce trial starts May 6.

Matos McGreevey argues that McGreevey concealed his sexual identity, which amounts to fraud and entitles her to more money in the divorce. She is seeking $600,000 for time she would have spent at the governor's mansion as first lady had he not resigned in disgrace in 2004.

Pedersen said in sworn testimony that he participated in regular threesomes with the couple beginning in 1999 while they were dating and continuing until McGreevey became governor in 2001. The couple married in 2000.

McGreevey has said the encounters happened, but his wife denies it.

Pedersen, 29, said he came forward to buttress McGreevey's contention that his wife had to have known he was gay when they married. She says she had no clue, although in a book about her marriage, she acknowledged missing several signs.

McGreevey, Matos McGreevey, and Post did not return messages for comment.

Haller said McGreevey would like the case settled. But if there is a trial, he wants the facts heard since they will ''forcefully contradict'' Matos McGreevey's account. (Angela Delli Santi, AP)