Geoff Simpson Charged with Domestic Violence Again

It's that “right wing attack machine” again I tell you!

It is curious that these charges happen a few months before an election, just like two years ago.

Not sure your implication is correct. As his lawsuit against AG McKenna evidences, Pete Holmes (who made this charging decision) isn't exactly a partisan Republican hack.

Nor are your underlying facts even entirely correct. The charges two years ago were actually DROPPED right before the election.

Yes, both times charges were brought several months before an election. But both times charges were brought shortly after Geoff shoved his ex-wife. Are you suggesting that prosecutors should wait until a year after an incident before charging a defendant if that defendant is an elected official? Maybe a better approach would be for men to stop shoving their girlfriends and ex-wives.

Have I not been accurately describing him or what! Will Ivan Weiss continue to defend him? Disgusting.

Not only will I defend him, I'm sending a check to his campaign today.

I am suggesting that the ex-wife might be instigating something right before each election in order to have an excuse to file bogus charges. She might go into overdrive to start pushing his buttons and create a difficult situation.

I could see it happening with an ex-wife that really wants to see him lose the election.

Why would his ex wife want him to lose an election when she relies on his income for child support? Doesn't make sense.

The city attorney is also a Democrat. He did not make the decision to charge Representative Simpson for partisan reasons. And there was at least one witness, a third party. Somebody the city attorney deemed credible.

If Democrats and progressives stand by him then they do so at their own peril.

Just sayin' – State Legislators don't really make all that much. If she's relying on that for Child Support, then she's really not relying on much.

Even if your premise were true, Geoff has no excuse for getting physical. Plenty of men get their “buttons pushed” by women in their life, but good men don't react with force.

However, I reject your premise. The ex-wife refused to cooperate with prosecutors in 2008, which meant they had to drop the case. This recent incident, from what I understand, was reported by a social worker. So the ex-wife probably isn't going out of her way to “press buttons” if she's so reluctant to pursue criminal sanctions.

because she gains leverage and in exchange for dropping the complaint, she can hit him up big time.

while actual violence and assault is bad, so is lying to create a false claim, and seriously, unless you were there and saw it, and unless you are sitting on the jury seeing all the evidence, if you're taking sides on this he said she said from afar you're just assuming the claim is valid.

I find these Repub party activists and American Taliban kooks hilarious: they spent the last couple decades citing the Bible to tell us they should have the right to beat their kids and their wives. They told us political correctness of domestic violence laws, child welfare laws and hate crime statutes was a scourge on red-blooded American values. But when it suits their own political ends, tapping somebody suddenly becomes ASSAULT! Pretty pathetic.

Sicking your head in the sand and defending a jerk just because he panders to your political views makes you part of the problem. Simpson is soundly disliked in Olympia. He has serious anger management issues with numerous incidents of his screaming threats and even throwing chairs and other objects. His money comes mainly from outside his district and each election he uses a lot of it to launch October Surprise vicious smear campaigns against whomever is brave enough to run against him. Whether the end result is Republican or Democrat the 47th deserves better.

Sicking (sic)your head in the sand and defending a jerk just because she panders to your political views makes you part of the problem. Pam Roach is soundly disliked in Olympia. She has serious anger management issues with numerous incidents of her screaming threats and even throwing chairs and other objects. Her money comes mainly from outside his district and each election she uses a lot of it to launch October Surprise vicious smear campaigns against whomever is brave enough to run against her. Whether the end result is Republican or Democrat the 31st deserves better.

(1) The gentleman never mentioned Sen. Roach. If he defended her in another thread, I must have missed it, so please direct me toward it.

(2) If a large, burly Republican man hit/shoved/bumped his wife in such a way that precipitated criminal charges, you would be all over him and calling for his resignation. If someone then offered defended the abusive Republican on a blog by pointing out troubled Democrats, you would be all over that person and (rightfully) accusing him of deflecting from the real issue.

(3) Based on this latest comment of yours, it is clear that either (a) you think both Geoff and Pam should exit the legislature, (b) you think neither Geoff nor Pam should exit the legislature, or (c) you have no intellectual worth. Until I see you call for Geoff's resignation or send a donation to Pam, I must conclude that (c) reflects the true state of affairs.

The comments that have immediately chalked this up to lies as part of a simple smear campaign disturb me. If this is a lie being used as a campaign tactic, then the social worker who says she witnessed this, the investigating police officer, and the City Attorney (also a Democrat) are all in on the conspiracy.

I can completely understand not rushing to judgment until more facts come out. I believe that is fair. What I do not understand, particularly from those who include themselves in the “Progressive” community, is the flippant dismissal of this very serious allegation.

I do not know if the version of the events reported are the truth. If Geoff Simpson did this, he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If his ex-wife made this up and filed a false police report, she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But immediately dismissing this as false and criticizing his ex-wife is not just imprudent, it also discourages other victims of domestic violence from reporting their abuse.

Peril? What peril am I in from you? Are you threatening me or something?

I have seen a lot of “blaming the victim” in response to this report. People have dismissed the social worker's statement, the police statement that the daughter did not want her father in there, and a history of similar charges (although they were dropped because the alleged victim did not want to cooperate).

Fear and intimidation are close cousins of emotional and physical abuse.

Clearly there are issues here with MR. Simpson and (according to some) possibly with MRS. Simpson.

But the police report and witness statement that drove the Democrat city attorney to file charges are about the actions of MR. Simpson.

He must address these things and step down from office to show his sincerity and commitment to walk away from a pattern of abuse.

An ex wife who uses a child as a weapon against her ex, especially when the child is in the hospital with a life threatening illness, is disgusting. She should be investigated. If Geoff is like any NORMAL caring parent (which he obviously is) he would crawl through glass to get to a sick child. Also, investigate whether she's been asking for more money or other changes to their custody order. That might tell a lot! Why else would this happen right before every election.

The “Democrat” city attorney? Haha, we know where YOU'RE coming from, and it sure isn't from advocacy for the abused. She did this two elections ago, you lot smeared Geoff with it then, and it was so over the top that the voters returned him to office with a 59 percent vote. This is just more of the same crap, and only the gullible are falling for it.

“59 percent vote?” Really ivan? You're going to just blantantly make things up now; especially things which are so demonstrably false?

I guess I was right about you. See Part (3)(c) in my post above.

Just realized you said “two elections ago,” not two years ago. You're right about the 59% then. Mea culpa.

BUT, now I'm not sure what you mean by “[s]he did this.” What is “this?” Yes, Geoff's opponent that race certainly tried to make hay out of information disclosed during the divorce proceedings. But his then-wife didn't press DV charges against him.

And call me old-fashioned, but I still don't understand how Kathy's actions legitimize Geoff using force against a woman half his size.

He was re-elected with 53 percent, not 59 percent, and he faced a weak opponent. This year he faces a much stronger opponent.

Ivan Weiss and David Goldstein both stand with Geoff Simpson. Both on the theory that ex-wives often have axes to grind. Doesn't that say more about them than it does about Simpson?