Alito's wife tears up at hearing

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

January 12, 2006

WASHINGTON - For three days, the wife of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito endured Democratic senators' harsh questions to her husband about whether he was an evasive bigot and a conservative zealot.

Then came the moment when she could no longer hold back the tears, some Republicans suggested afterward.

Martha-Ann Bomgardner, a 52-year-old law librarian who had sat behind her husband during Senate hearings, left weeping as he was being gently questioned by one of her husband's supporters, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

"Are you really a closet bigot?" Graham asked Alito in an attempt to debunk the thought.

The nominee said no. And Graham agreed, adding, "Judge Alito, I am sorry that you've had to go through this. I am sorry that your family has had to sit here and listen to this."

Alito's wife returned to the hearing room after a break, smiling with her husband.

Democrats had pounded Alito about his stance on Roe v. Wade and his membership in a conservative Princeton University alumni group.

"She's sick and tired of the mistreatment of her husband," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said later.