Maria Belen Chapur, Mark Sanford | 06/29/2009 9:45 am
Mark Sanford's Mistress, Maria Belen Chapur, Says Little About Affair; Wife Called a Hero
Chapur says she has idea who leaked affair-related e-mail messages to the press; friends say Sanford’s wife, credited with much of his political success, is no victim.
Image: Wikipedia
Maria Belen Chapur admitted over the weekend that she had a steamy affair with South Carolina governor and formerly rising GOP star Mark Sanford, but she’s saying little else on the scandal.
The 41-year-old Argentine woman also said she has a "firm suspicion" of who broke into her Hotmail account, where e-mail messages were housed containing details about her affair, reports The New York Times. But she doesn’t think the hacker is an ex-boyfriend. Whoever the culprit is, he or she broke into her e-mail around November 24, and, the following month, sent the e-mail messages to her ex and The State newspaper in Columbia, SC.
"I won’t speak about my private life as it just belongs to me,” Chapur said in a statement. "It has already been made too public during these last days, bringing to me even more pain."
Meanwhile, wife Jenny Sanford — the woman who is credited for many of her husband’s successes — is being heralded a hero by those who know her. She’s no victim. She kicked Sanford out of the family home, and says her No. 1 priority is her family, not her husband’s political career. She recently said she knew her husband has been cheating on her since January when she found a love letter, and that he had the gall to ask her if it was OK for him to visit his mistress. The Washington Post says Mrs. Sanford, 46, "seems to have drawn a new path for the aggrieved spouse of a philandering politician, an episode that has become something of a ritual in American politics."
Cyndi Mosteller, a longtime friend and prominent Republican operative in South Carolina, told the Post:
Jenny is the hero in this story. She’s the hero to her children, and I think she’s the hero to this state. In the midst of this tragedy, she is standing strong to who she is and what she believes in … I think Jenny has not had these types of ambitions, but I think every woman in South Carolina would vote for Jenny Sanford for governor right now.
Jenny Sanford certainly isn’t the first wife of a prominent politician to have her family turned upside down because of a sex scandal. Hillary Clinton endured Bill’s Oval Office antics; Dina Matos McGreevey had to deal with her New Jersey governor husband Jim McGreevey’s public outing as a gay man; Silda Spitzer was mortified to find out her husband, then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, was spending time with prostitutes; and Elizabeth Edwards not only had to deal with her husband’s extramarital activities, but the possibility that he fathered a child with another woman, on top of it all.
What do you think Jenny Sanford should do? Should she forgive her husband or kick him to the curb for good?
Read more about: Affair, Argentina, Governor, Jenny Sanford, Maria Belen Chapur, Mark Sanford, News, Politics, Republican, Sex Scandal, South Carolina, U.S.
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80 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Jenny Sanford may forgive, but she never will forget….just remember that mark!!!
I’ve indicated this on another thread and I will repeat it…this is not just about what has erupted now. There is a fundamental problem in their marriage. It started at least eight years ago when he sought a confidante other than his wife. The issue may be with him; that he sought political power at a certain point in his life and this is no longer what he wants. However, in a marriage where the two partners are close his own personal change would not come about in this dramatic and disruptive way, at the expense of his family. All of the given clues, such as that he "left" a personal letter in his files, and "asked permission" of his wife to see his mistress, suggest that he is a man who has no grasp on his own emotional life. His analogy to King David is not so far-fetched, since David was so struck by Bat Sheva that he turned around a lifetime of very conscious religious practice and honorable behavior in order to have her. Sanford, though, is trying to undo what he has done, and I don’t know if this makes sense for either him or his wife. I don’t know if she understands this issue, or him, either. Either choice, to stay or to go, carries serious consequences. Both of them, separately and together, have to work at understanding this.
F. Fox…I am going to put this out here…This may not be how I feel but a situation in which someone can get caught up with events…
Sanford may not have gone looking for this mistress, there may not have been anything wrong with his marriage. These two could have met by chance (which I dont know how they met) and just stricked up a conversation, then they talked and talked and talked, he felt he could talk to her about some stuff that he didnt feel he could talk to his wife about, happens all the time, then on the next trip, they talked more and possibily had dinner, then again and before he knew it, he had feelings for this woman, and was also physically attracted to her…It is possible to love more than one person at a time when there isnt anything wrong with either person…Yes this went on for 8 years which was wrong on his part for letting it go that long but he was getting two different feelings from both women.
He was being bad with the one and being the Governor and family man w/ the other…he was living 2 seperate lives. Yes he threw his marriage vows out the window when he first touched this woman in the wrong way…He could have stayed friends w/ this lady & nothing would have ever come about from it but once he crossed the line that was it.
Nobody said men are the brightest light bulb.
the reason i asked that is because of his position of destroying and politically demonizing family values: by discriminating against families he is fearful of and bigoted against. i don’t care about anyone elses’ marriage, or if someone wants their marriage to be sacred. that’s up to them.
the fact remains that "sacredness" has no place in government or law documents - a marriage is a contract, devoid of any spiritual or religious bearings in the government.
if someone wants to get married, that is up to them.
he needs to resign, pay back all the taxpayer money he robbed from his state, apologize to all homosexuals for his mistakes and horrible words, and start working towards equality for all in the government, including the right to marry the one you love regardless of the state of your crotch.
I was responding to a question about the sanctity of marriage for a religious family—basically in the Judeo Christian tradition, and then one would have to look at the religious rules.
You may have the opinion that sacredness has no place, but in the US, the constitutional documents still say "under God", and you still have to swear on a bible in a court of law when giving testimony. Coinage also states "In God We Trust". If you want to lobby against these, you are free to do so, because it’s a free country.Until these are changed however they remain hallmarks of the US, which was not founded to abolish religion, but in part to allow free expression of same.
Elected officials are generally elected based on majority opinion, so one must assume that the majority of people in South Carolina were willing to accept the package that was Mark Sanford.
As for the court of public opinion, I think it’s mostly out of line and I am disturbed by how savage it is. I am happy to be the minority opinion.
I do not personally hold with unfaithfulness in marriage. However, Sanford’s recently disclosed additional items to AP simply underline what I maintained on another thread: the marriage was not strong enough, nor was the closeness between him and his wife, nor was he controlled enough to bear the stress of his uncomfortableness with the yoke of religious practice. It is a yoke. If he has truly found his soulmate, I hope that he and his wife terminate their marriage and he marries Maria Chapur. I hope that in this event Jenny Sanford finds a man who honors her fidelity. As for the concern that if he did it to his first wife, he would do it to his second, that may be true in the majority of cases, but there are always a few situations where the first marriage splits but the second one takes permanently.
When he speaks about his soulmate he includes the word soul, and when he speaks about a soul he is on the right track. Let us hope.
This guy should resign he went totally against SC law went he left with no word to his staff or anyone else! It makes me laugh how he thinks he can carry on as if nothing has happened knowing full well he broke the laws of the state. As for his wife that is up to her and her family what they decide to do with him. Thank God she never went out there in the public with him saying "how sorry" he was like they all do and embarrassing her. I don’t suppose he will be the last one to do this but please don’t let them profess to hold such high moral and family values in the future we are sick of hearing that!
Ok I am going to play devil’s advocate…IF he used tax payers money when he took these trips YES he should resign but if he did not use tax payer money for these trips to see his mistress, why should he resign?
I am not condoning what he did b/c what he did was wrong to his WIFE and if he used tax payers money for these trips then he was WRONG for that but if he did not, why can’t he continue to be Governor?
Yes he did go out of the Country for 2 weeks without letting anyone know but I dont believe that, I am sure someone on his "team" knew exactly where he was & what he was doing…There is no way a Governor can skip without noone knowing…
CH…I had heard there was someone who knew his where abouts…that someone who was covering for him had knowledge of his affair. I really think there was more than one who knew how to get a hold of him….but still….take an emergency leave of absence (or maybe abstinence is the right word) or just take a vacation….but stop lying to your family and the public. I guess it will be up to the people of SC to decide if they have any faith in this man as their governor or not….I know how I would vote if he was in my state!
LL, exactly. Let the people who he governs decide. His books are being looked at under a microscope and if he used $1 of tax payer money for any romps with his mistress, then yes he should resign but if he isnt up for re-election would it make that big of a deal to let him stay?
He will be under the watchful eye of so many, he wont be able to do anything really but work.
Not excusing him but….
He was out of the country for " five days"…not two weeks. Although he had intended to dtay for 10 days. Word is he was also there on some state business so not all personal!
He went there to END the relationship after he and his wife agreed upon a two week separation. She really did not know his whereabouts….and I suppose he in his cheating mind thought he would sneak out and take care of business and be back in a flash whitout anyone the wiser…. Dumb A$$$