In a joint statement released by Turner’s U.S. House office, attorneys for Turner and Mourad said the couple has “come to a resolution of all matters between them, and wish each other the best in their future endeavors. Neither party will have any further comment and asks that their privacy in this matter be respected.”
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Turner filed for divorce in May, alleging fraudulent contract, and asked that Mourad be restrained from taking any of their assets, according to a divorce filing.
The divorce became unusually public last month when Turner, R-Dayton, handed a letter in Congress to his groomsman and fellow congressman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., seeking a deposition.
The attempt to compel Issa, who once served as Turner’s chairman on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to testify drew renewed attention to the divorce case.
In a statement last month to Washington, D.C., publication Politico, Issa denied that he and Mourad had a romantic relationship. Mourad also denied the rumors.
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It is not unheard of for proceedings in divorce to be filed under seal.
In 2017, Congressman Tim Murphy, R-Pa., released a statement admitting to an extramarital affair with a personal friend. The relationship was discovered after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette prevailed in court in unsealing the divorce of the friend and her husband, who attempted to depose the congressman as part of the divorce, the Post-Gazette reported.
Turner’s case “will remain under seal until someone puts a motion before the court, and if there’s no motion, at this point it will remain under seal,” Petrella-Ahrens said. “Any routine divorce case that comes before the court can be requested to go under seal. It can be for the parties’ protection, it can be for protection of children involved, it can be because of assets or confidential, sensitive information.”
Prior attempts to shield the court filings were unsuccessful.
According to court filings, Mourad, a longtime energy lobbyist who has worked for the liquid natural gas company Tellurian since May 2017, unsuccessfully sought to keep the proceedings confidential, then later unsuccessfully sought to shield her stock agreement with that company.
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Mourad, a Toledo native, was named one of “the 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill” in 2015 by the Washington newspaper “The Hill.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, she has also served as vice-president of government affairs for Cheniere, a Houston-based energy company that primarily works in liquid natural gas–related businesses. From 2000 to 2004, she served in the George W. Bush administration, working as a senior adviser to Spencer Abraham at the Department of Energy and later went on to work for Abraham as vice president and partner of the Abraham Group, a lobbying firm. She began her career on Capitol Hill working for Rep. Sonny Bono and later for Rep. Mary Bono, before becoming an aide to then-Sen. Abraham in 1999.
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