Congressional Candidate Dropped Ex-Wife at Homeless Shelter
(APN) ATLANTA – Marcus Flowers, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Congress for Georgia’s Fourteenth Congressional District, dropped his ex-wife at a homeless shelter, according to court documents reviewed by Atlanta Progressive News.
The race for the Fourteenth Congressional District seat, currently held by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and covering northwest Georgia, has captured national attention because of the incumbent, freshman Congresswoman’s far-right positions and bombastic nature.
Mr. Flowers, a political newcomer and military veteran in a cowboy hat, has raised millions of dollars in his campaign for the Democratic nomination. He boasts the endorsements of former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and former City of Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.
Flowers claims in his mass emails to be the only candidate in the race, but Rome Commissioner Wendy Davis (Ward 2) and Holly McCormack are also seeking the Democratic nomination.
In July 2021, the New Republic magazine revealed, among other things, that Mr. Flowers had dropped his ex-wife, Svetlana Chudinova, at a homeless shelter without any of her belongings after telling her that he was taking her to Walmart to go shopping.
https://newrepublic.com/article/162900/marcus-flowers-marjorie-greene-military-contractor
APN obtained court records to verify and research the controversy.
Flowers had met Chudinova, who is Russian, in Afghanistan while he was a military contractor. He refuses to say more about his military contract work except that he did not work for Blackwater.
After she became pregnant, he agreed they would move to the United States, that they would get married, and that he would assist her with obtaining a green card.
After living in Georgia for some time, Flowers met a new girlfriend and presented Chudinova (then “Svetlana Flowers”) with a divorce agreement, in which he agreed to get her a green card (already promised but promised again), that he would repay a loan to her mother (that he already owed), and that they would all move to Oklahoma together.
After living in Oklahoma for some time, he decided he did not want her living with him and his girlfriend anymore.
“I started communicating with the City Rescue Mission in June of 2016 trying to figure out if there was a program that could help,” he wrote in his response to a recent suit filed by Chudinova in Oklahoma.
“I learned that they did have a program that would help her get counseling because I felt she had a personality disorder that was previously not disclosed and help her get a place of her own to stay if I would help offset the cost,” he wrote in the court document, attaching no evidence to support his opinion.
“The conversations that I had with the City Rescue Mission are documented and began a month before she was removed from the home,” he wrote.
“I in fact informed Ms. Chudinova of this a couple weeks prior and gave her notice of eviction. She refused to vacate the premise, so I in fact did tell Ms. Chudinova on July 05th 2016 that we were going to Wal-Mart and instead took her to the rescue Mission,” he wrote.
“She did not as stated in her petition call the police, I in fact called the police to have her removed from the vehicle, I will produce the police report. I never forcibly removed Ms. Chudinova from any place,” he wrote.
The incident raises many questions, the first of which is, who on Earth drops their child’s mother off at a homeless shelter?
Another question is whether Mr. Flowers complied with state law governing evictions, or whether he engaged in “self help” akin to a residential lessor placing a tenant’s belongings on the lawn.
Under the State of Oklahoma’s Tenant-Landlord Statute, Chudinova appears to have been a “tenant at will” per Oklahoma Statute Section 41-1 (“Who deemed tenant at will”), because she occupied the home with the apparent assent of the owner.
Therefore, in order to lawfully evict Ms. Chudinova, the owner of the home would have been required to file a dispossessory action in an Oklahoma court per Section 41-111 (“Termination of tenancy.”).
Mr. Flowers admits in a court document to lying to Ms. Chudinova by stating they were going to Walmart when, in fact, he knew they were not going to Walmart but instead were going to (her new home) the homeless shelter.
Under what circumstances does Mr. Flowers believe that lying is justified, in addition to this one?
How will the people of Georgia’s Fourteenth Congressional District know when he is telling the truth or when he is lying, when he has already shown that he will knowingly deceive others to achieve an end he believes is acceptable?
In 2020, Chudinova posted a plea for help to Facebook to get her daughter back, including a video appearing to show her daughter screaming and crying in terror as Mr. Flowers physically picked her up and carried her away. (Potential trigger warning.)
Flowers told the New Republic that the video showed him taking custody of the daughter per a split custody agreement; and that the police were present, although no police are shown in the video.
APN reached out to the Flowers campaign seeking comment, and sent over questions to a Deputy Campaign Manager late yesterday afternoon, but has not received a response.
(END / Copyright Atlanta Progressive News / 2022)