Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley issued a statement shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday to react further to a Courant story, which can be read by clicking here, that said he had obtained a signed statement from his wife in 2006 from his former wife -- saying that he had never threatened or physically abused her.
Here is the statement:
"For the last week, I have had to answer questions following the leaking of a broadly accusatory letter sent by my former wife to Governor Rowland in 2002. I have been peppered with questions about arrests 17 and 29 years ago as if they happened yesterday. My opponents have said I was "imprisoned" and asked me to "come clean" about these events as if I had not. But until this morning, I racked this up to "politics as usual" and the kind of "vetting" and "dusting up" a new entrant to the arena can expect.
"This morning was different. An article in this morning's Hartford Courant referenced the letter to discuss my relationship with my former wife. I have not seen the letter my former wife sent to Governor Rowland, but I have seen others she wrote which I assume are similar. While the article cited a letter from her in 2006 acknowledging that I had never threatened her and that no physical abuse occurred between us, it noted that in the letter to the Governor in 2002 she said I was abusive. While I am grateful that any suggestion of physical abuse and threatening behavior is off the table, the mere appearance of the article raises the specter that I behaved improperly in our relationship. I categorically deny that abusive behavior of any kind by me toward my former wife ever occurred and am making this statement today to remove once and for all any doubt about these accusations."