Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten claimed her husband had a mental break just days before he abruptly walked out on her and their two teen sons, according to court papers that she tried to hide from the public.
Scholten (D-Mich.), 44, made an unsuccessful bid in February to keep her divorce case sealed, with her attorney claiming the details could hurt her reelection chances and cause “irreparable reputational harm.”
The documents include the Grand Rapids-native’s claims that her hubby of 20 years, Jesse Holcomb, had months of “depressive” and “manic episodes” before he “unilaterally and suddenly” decided to split.
Just six days before Holcomb left, Scholten found him “inconsolably crying” late at night and refusing to eat food as he incoherently muttered “about his childhood,” according to court papers filed by Scholten, which were obtained by journalist and podcaster James David Dickson.
Scholten — who is running for a third term representing Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District in November — claimed she was “unable to stabilize” Holcomb and even considered checking him into a mental health facility, Pine Rest, the papers said.
Scholten — a former social worker and immigration attorney in the Obama administration — said she told her sons, Wesley, 13, and, James, 16, that her husband wasn’t feeling well.
When Holcomb emerged from the bedroom at one point, the sons could tell there was “something off about their father,” the filing claims.
“Eventually, [Holcomb] returned to bed, again crying inconsolably,” her papers claimed.
The next day Scholten brought up inpatient mental health treatment to Holcomb — a journalism professor at Calvin University in Grand Rapids.
“This suggestion only increased his irritability,” her lawyer wrote. “She suggested they take a walk or go cross country skiing. It was virtually impossible to stabilize him.”
At Scholten’s urging, Holcomb finally called a doctor and eventually started “coming out of his agitated state,” the papers allege.
Then Holcomb “suddenly and irrationally” told his politician wife that he was going to leave on Jan. 6, immediately exiting their home as his sons “cried” and before turning off the location services on his phone so she and the boys wouldn’t know where he was staying, Scholten’s papers claimed.
In the aftermath of the split, Holcomb showed “erratic and threatening behavior” toward the family, including “ambushing them” at the airport when Scholten decided to have the boys accompany her to DC for work, the court papers claimed.
Meanwhile, Holcomb claimed in his divorce papers from January that Scholten was trying to keep him out of their Grand Rapids home by changing the locks and security system passwords and she was also trying to keep him from their sons.
Scholten “has unilaterally cut off contact between [Holcomb] and the minor children and restricted and denied him liberal access to the materiel home,” his papers claimed.
But Scholten countered that the boys personally texted him they weren’t ready to see him because of the shock of him leaving and his alarming actions after.
“It was this behavior-and additional erratic, aggressive, and intimidating behavior in the ensuing days … and abrupt and thoughtless choice that puts [Holcomb] in the position he is in today with the children,” her filing alleged.
“The children are not ready to see their father without therapeutic intervention,” the documents claimed.
Holcomb filed for divorce on Jan. 26, without telling Scholten, offering little explanation for why he was doing so, other than to say the marriage was unfixable, court papers say.
“There has been a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed, and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved,” his divorce papers alleged.
Holcomb — who makes $105,000 at his professor gig — asked for spousal support and for Scholten — who makes $174,000 in Congress — to be responsible for the costs of the divorce.
She is fighting both requests.
A judge in late February did issue a ruling ordering them to share custody and that Holcomb would live in the home and take care of the sons when Scholten was in DC for work.
The judge, Matthew Delange, also ordered the kids to undergo therapy, the court papers show.
The divorce case is ongoing.
“I have grown an extra chamber in my heart for moms and dads out there who have had to go through this,” Scholten said about the divorce earlier this month. “It goes without saying that this is a deeply personal matter.”
Both of their lawyers didn’t immediately return requests for comment Monday.
