ATLANTA — The ex-wife of US Senator Raphael Warnock is seeking changes to her custody arrangement in court documents that allege he “willfully flouted” the agreement as she attempts to move out of Georgia.
Ouluye Ndoye’s 11-page filing wants a judge to give her additional custody of her two young children so she can pursue a program at Harvard University and references an agreement she made with Warnock when he was Running for the US Senate in early 2020.
It is also calling for a recalculation of Warnock’s child support payments due to his “significant” increase in earnings following his win. After taking office, he continued to serve as senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
The complaint, filed in February, comes as Warnock is running for a full six-year term. He won a runoff in a special election in January 2021, part of a Democratic move that reversed control of the Senate. His re-election campaign in November could reassert control of the chamber.
Warnock spokeswoman Meredith Brasher called him “a devoted father who takes pride in continuing to raise both of his children together while he works for the people of Georgia.” She has not commented further, and Warnock has not yet responded to the allegations in court.
Ndoye and her attorney have not returned messages seeking comment, nor have they provided the Atlanta Journal Constitutional documents.
An incident between Warnock and Ndoye in March 2020, while their divorce petition was pending, came under scrutiny during his last campaign.
Ndoye told Atlanta Police Department that he ran over her foot with his car during a heated argument outside her townhouse, and she described him as a “great actor” after he denied her claims.
Warnock has not been charged with a crime and medical officials found no visible signs of an injury to his foot. Warnock told the AJC in March 2020 that Ndoye’s allegations “did not materialize”.
The most recent filing concerns a custody agreement made in April 2020 while he was campaigning for the US Senate. Although the details are private, these agreements often provide that a spouse cannot move children out of state.
In the court documents, she asked a judge to reconsider child support considerations because she plans to be a full-time student at Harvard University for two years.
She claimed a “substantial change in circumstances affecting the welfare of the children” after Warnock’s victory, and she claimed on the filing that her ex-husband failed to reimburse her for some childcare expenses incurred during the time he was with the children are planned.
The filing singled out certain days of the week when Warnock was supposed to have responsibility for the children under the agreement, but is now unable to due to his Senate duties.
“The fact that (Warnock) failed to reimburse (Ndoye) has left (Ndoye) financially strapped and left the children in her care while she was supposed to focus on work-related and school duties,” the filing reads .
Ndoye also claimed that when Warnock reimbursed her, “this has often been accompanied by an extensive inquiry as to the value and necessity of the services rendered”.
Several Republicans are up against Warnock in November in the May 24 primary. The most well-known GOP candidate is Herschel Walker, a former soccer player with a history of violence against women and erratic behavior that has haunted his campaign.
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