Ex-Rep. Pickering's wife alleges affair

JACKSON, Miss., July 17 (UPI) -- Leisha Pickering alleges in a lawsuit her husband, former U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, had an affair that destroyed their marriage and his political career.

Pickering's wife alleges in a lawsuit in Hinds County, Miss., the Mississippi Republican's affair with Elizabeth Creekmore-Byrd cost him the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Trent Lott in 2007, the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger said Friday.

Leisha Pickering's Hinds County Circuit Court lawsuit against Creekmore-Byrd is seeking unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.

"Creekmore-Byrd's reckless interference with a marriage contract, destruction of family values and her actions of uncondoned adultery with plaintiff's husband ... were accompanied with expenditures of money, gifts, and concealment of a serious nature further justifying punitive damages," the alienation of affections lawsuit alleges.

Court filings show Creekmore-Byrd has yet to respond to the litigation filed this week, the Clarion-Ledger said.

A divorce complaint for the Pickerings is pending in Madison County Chancery Court.