All in News Features

Next Article

News Features

Craig's list

In the weirdest anecdote described in the court filing — especially given Schelske’s alleged trolling for anal sex — Evans claims that Schelske barred a Dancing with the Stars costume designer from the couples’ Los Angeles home for being a “sodomite”: “Husband referred to the costume designer for the show Dancing with the Stars as a ‘sodomite’ and told her how awful it was to have the children in the home when the costume designer was present. September 18, 2006, Husband told Wife that the parties child, [redacted], broke out in hives because he saw the costume designer who is a ‘sodomite’.” There you have it: Craig Schelske, defender of family values.

Schelske issued a statement categorically denying the allegations.

Should Evans’ allegations prove true — and Evans claims she’s got the photos to back them up — the GOP could be looking at a very unfortunate montage. Schelske lost his bid for Congress in 2002, but not for lack of interest from the Bushies, who backed him in a primary battle against fellow Republican businessman Brian Boquist. The Bush folks signaled their choice by inviting Schelske and Evans to a high-profile photo op in November, 2001 at Fort Campbell, Tennessee — one of several Bush-Schelske grin-and-grabs preserved for posterity on Schelske’s still-active campaign site. (Boquist trounced Schelske by a 2-to-1 margin, only to be beaten by the Democratic incumbent.) But even after the loss, Schelske stayed in the right-wing orbit. In addition to his PAC,  he’s also the executive director of the creepy-sounding American Destiny foundation — which Alternet blogger Evan Derkacz once described as “an organization that promotes a revisionist history of America's founding as a theocracy and dedicates itself to busting the ‘myth' of separation of church and state,” and whose spokesman is Dr. Stephen Mansfield, the bestselling author of The Faith of George W. Bush.

In a favorable profile of the couple during Schelske’s failed 2002 campaign, the Oregonian noted that Schelske “knows he has to prove he’s got more going for him than a marriage certificate with Evans’ name on it. At the same time, he’s proud of his wife’s accomplishments and will accept any help she’s able to give. ‘Any man married to a great woman would be a fool not to appreciate that,’ he says.”