A Florida judge has granted Rep. Alan Grayson’s (D-FL) wife custody of the couple’s children, and barred contact by her husband, following an incident where Lolita Grayson says her husband pushed her against a door.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday that Rep. Grayson’s press secretary, Lauren Doney, said in a statement that the allegations “are absolutely false, completely unfounded, and clearly designed to vilify and harm Congressman Grayson.”
The incident occurred Saturday at the Graysons’ home in Orlando, just weeks after Lolita Grayson filed for divorce from the congressman. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is currently conducting a domestic violence investigation, and Rep. Grayson has not been arrested or charged in connection to the incident.
In a petition for the injunction filed on Monday, Lolita Grayson described an altercation where Rep. Grayson “deliberately and with force pushed [her] very hard against the front door, causing [her] to fall to the ground as a result,” according to the Sentinel. Lolita Grayson then pushed her husband in the face and kneed him in the stomach “in order to protect and defend herself.” She then called 911. The document also alleges that “from time to time” Rep. Grayson “has battered [her] and the parties’ minor children.”
A statement released by Rep. Grayson’s office to the Sentinel claims it was Lolita Grayson who initiated the “violent assault.”
“Sadly, it was Ms. Grayson who physically attacked the Congressman as he attempted to visit with his children. He did not respond to Ms. Grayson’s violent assault,” the statement said.
The congressman’s director of constituent services, Juan Lopez, told the Sentinel he witnessed the incident Saturday from just a few feet away. He denied that Rep. Grayson had struck his wife.
“Absolutely not,” Lopez told the paper. “It’s just unfortunate that this is happening and that she would say something like this.”
