Alito's Wife Leaves Hearing Room In Tears

Alito's Wife Leaves Hearing Room in Tears

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060111/...o/alito_wife_1

Wed Jan 11, 6:13 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The wife of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito left his confirmation hearings in tears Wednesday.

Martha-Ann Bomgardner, who had sat behind her husband for hours of questioning over several days, left as her husband was being questioned by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina.

"Are you really a closet bigot?" Graham asked Alito. The nominee said no, and Graham said, "No sir, you're not."

Graham's questions came after withering questions from several Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats.

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record) of Utah suggested that she was upset with the questioning from Democrats. "She's sick and tired of the mistreatment of her husband," Hatch said. He also said that she was suffering from a migraine headache.

She returned to the hearing room after a committee break, smiling and holding her husband's hand.