By Antonio D. French
Filed Friday, May 26, 2006 at 5:09 PM
State rep candidate Talibdin El-Amin calls the charges that he is a "deadbeat dad" ridiculous. But he said that these recent allegations have taken a toll on him, his wife, and his children. Labels: State_House
El-Amin, the 1st Ward Committeeman and husband to State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin, told PUB DEF that he has been involved in every stage of his children's emotional, mental, physical, and educational development. He said allegations to the contrary by the mother of his two eldest children are the result of a personal vendetta.
"Never have I had to be 'forced' to tend to my fatherly responsibilities," said El-Amin. He said it was him who in 1996 initiated child support payments which were taken directly from his paycheck.
El-Amin said he has records that show that he has paid more than $88,000 in child support from 1997 to May 2006. "I am on record for providing over $80,000 in child support, this in spite of being denied my right to see my children per our custody agreement."
He said that there have been short periods when he was unable to make his payments: after surgery in 1996, after he donated a kidney to his father in 2000, and after being laid-off from his job at General Motors in 2000.
"In the fall of 2005, I initiated custody proceedings, seeking greater involvement than previously afforded," said El-Amin. He said the court rolled his missed payments into a new monthly payment amount, which he has been current on ever since.
"More troubling than the accusation of being an absentee father, is the attack on my wife, whose love, and nurturing of the children outside of our marriage, has transcended the atypical stereotype of a detached stepmother," El-Amin wrote in an email to PUB DEF.
"Her involvement in school events, planning of activities and trips, and overall development has often times superseded that of the biological mother, Ms. Washington," he said.
The character of El-Amin's "baby's mama" was something that sources in his campaign wanted to talk a great deal about. They provided documents which they say show that she has gambled $107,054.56 at a local riverboat casino between January 2004 to May 2005.
Sources tell PUB DEF that, maybe as soon as tomorrow, El-Amin is considering dropping out of the race to prevent possible further damage to his children caused by the "dirty politics" of the past week.
They point to the fact that an employee of Sheriff Jim Murphy, who has endorsed State Rep. Amber Boykins in her campaign against Yaphett El-Amin for State Senate, coincidentally showed up at their campaign office at the same time as a KSDK cameraman and reporter Mike Owens, who is married to Ald. Lyda Krewson, who has ties to Luther Boykins, Amber's father.
"This whole thing stinks to high heaven," said the insider. "It would be a shame to allow this kind of personal character assassination."
Several people told PUB DEF the real story here is that KSDK allows Mike Owens to do political stories. Imagine if Jo Mannies of the Post-Dispatch was Francis Slay's sister. Or if Jake Wagman was Jim Shrewsbury's son. Imagine if people working for the mayor were allowed to lobby for firms with city contracts -- oh, wait.
14 Comments:
This is a classic play by the El-Amins to try to turn themselves into the victims. If the facts are true (and I am waiting for someone to tell me that they are not) than they should admit that they used bad judgement is putting such a large sum of funds into his current wife's political campaign before taking care of his business with his children. Why is it so hard for people to take responsiblity for things. Get rid of the loan for your wife's campaign and pay for the kid's support and move on. That's it.
I am not sure this requires him to drop out of the race unless there is something more that we don't know about yet.
5/27/2006 7:34 AM
The El-Amins are the victims, it should be clear of that by now! Yaphett has taken better care of those children in question than their biological mother has done! Talibdeen stated that in his statement. That baby mama is nothing but a gold digger, and she is jealous that he is married to a
State Rep. She probably is at home lonely, and according to this statement she spends all her money that she gets for child support on the gambling boat. What a loser this mother is? She needs some gambler anonymous classes and Jenny Craig meals according to that KSDK video! Why didn't Mike Owens talk about her gambling problem and how much Yaphett has done to help those children? If she didn't let Talibdeen see the children, that explains why the children were not on the campaign picture with him. That mother has blown over $100,000.00 child support money on the gambling boat that could have gone to her children. Thats enough to buy a new house and car, with money left to take the children to Disneyland! If Talibdeen does drop out, he should put his full efforts into getting custody of his children from this greedy woman that has not missed a meal on the gambling boat buffet! She probably drinks a lot of alcohol too if she is on the boat, the El-Amins should run her record to see if she has any DWI's in the past! Maybe she would be considered an unfit mother. Where was the children she loves so much when Mike Owens was filming her, I bet they were being kept by the El-Amins! Get custody of your children from this woman, and make the El-Amin dynasty stronger. Bigger family=stronger dynasty
5/27/2006 8:18 AM
I think it would be a mistake for Talibdin El-Amin to drop out of the race. To do so would appear as if he is admitting to being a "deadbeat dad" and that he got caught at it. That would end his budding political career and harm his wife's state senate campaign even more.
A political mistake has already been made. He should have responded to these attacks within 24 hours. They have enough evidence to fight these charges, but the longer they wait, the more it drags on. But it is still not too late.
The fact is that the state rep race is the one that the family has the best shot at winning. If he drops out of the race, Yaphett might as well drop out too. That's how bad that will look.
The other story here is if black St. Louis is going to allow such a character assasination to be orchestrated between the Sheriff's Department and KSDK.
People who know Talib and Yaphett know them to be caring parents. These charges came way out of left field and the more you look at it, the more Owens' story falls apart. And no, Mike Owens should not be allowed to do political stories for Channel 5.
Can you imagine if Jo Mannies of the Post-Dispatch was Francis Slay's sister? Or Reporter Jake Wagman was Jim Shrewsbury's son?
5/27/2006 9:08 AM
This just shows how bad our local news media is. The reporter has political ties and his producer lets him do a raunchy like this.
Antonio is right. This needed a quick response. As a parent though, maybe the first consideration was how the children wanted to see it play out and that was the reason for the delay. No responsible parent wants to trash the other parent trashed in public. Notice he was not quoted about the gambling debts, although he probably could (should?) have prevented his campaign staff from talking about it.
I think it could be a mistake for him to withdraw. It could give credence to these claims which now appear to be questionable. On the other hand, maybe he's considering how further problems could affect his children and he's willing to wait until they're older before he runs.
5/27/2006 10:08 AM
You know I find it amazing that 'Mr. El-Amin' would not respond to the 'allegations' of being a dead-beat when it had first come out in the media. He, as usual, has let marinate and thought of a way lash back at me as a mother. Just to let you, the public know, the letter written to my legislators was strictly to inform them that I thought it was ethically wrong for Mr. El-Amin to take out a personal loan for a campaign and still owe child support arrearages. I also believe that the Division of Child Support Enforcement, with some help, did not attach the arrearages to a $58,000+ severance check from Ford Motor Company that Mr. El-Amin received in April of this year. In response to the allegations of gambling over $100,000 on the casinos - first of all, it's mathematically impossible. I don't even make that kind of money. In order to gamble that amount of money I would have to make at lease 3 times that amount to even keep the other things that I have. Myself and my children reside in a nice home in North County, I drive fairly new vehicle, an '04' model pickup, my children have all of the necessities in life and then some. Mr. El-Amin made that statement because I have run into his mother and father on the casino on a couple of occasions, but that does not mean they are heavy gamblers because I see them on there. They also happen to be the treasurers for the El-Amins campaign. HMMHH? One could draw a pretty nasty conclusion about that. It won't be me. His parents have done nothing to me - or for me. Moving on, in regards to the child custody battle that we have been through, it did take a toll on the children. My children are 13 and 11 and were put in a nasty situation. The El-Amins tried to drag me through the mud as much as they could, but it did not work. I was given FULL CUSTODY of my children and he even fought to have his support payments modified because he said that I made more money than he did. They lowered the amount and I had no complaints. We were given a very detailed court order and for the first couple of months Mr. El-Amin was making an attempt to follow it. Mr. El-Amin has not made one effort to comply with the visitation order issued by the courts for the last EIGHT MONTHS. The first time he called about getting his children was the week after my letter circulated in Jefferson, City. He called on May 18. Coincidence, hell no. I don't know how Mr. El-Amin could even begin to think that Yaphett takes better care of my children that I do. I have never taken a hit at the way she raises her children and I feel that I should be given that same respect because I am a good, hard-working mother. The St. Louis Family Court thought so too, that is why they are with me. My statements were only in regards to the monies owed to me nothing else. My children love their father and I am sure Mr. El-Amin loves them also, but for many years Mr. El-Amin and his wife have made this a personal attack on me. If they don't like me, so be it. Being liked by the El-Amins does not signify my life. As far as the children are concerned, they both have done well in school. My daughter got a 3.2 gpa advancing to the 8th grade and my son has advanced to the 6th grade as well. They are doing just fine. Since the report was done on the news, I have received a nasty calls to my home. I find it strange that in the 5 years that I have been living there I having never received 1 prank call until now. My number is not listed but I have my suspicions of who it might be. To the anonymous comment about my size - no I have not missed a meal, I love to eat and my husband loves to feed me. I am happily married and have been blessed with someone to help me with my children. The statement made by Mr. El-Amin was wrong and does not have anything to do with what he owes me. The state and my children believe that I am a good mother, it has been proven. They believe that this has taken a toll on them. What about the last 5 years for me and my children. They want to play the victims and its not fair that they use a website that supports them to get this off. My children and myself have gone through a lot of things that the El-Amins won't let you, the public know about. Their own families don't know some of the underhanded things that they have done to me. I'm not playing the victim and niether should they and when this has passed, I will not have any doubts about what I have done, but will the El-Amins?
5/27/2006 10:45 AM
Mrs. Washington, I appreciate your comment. But I must take exception with one thing you said.
You said "its not fair that they use a website that supports them to get this off." I am not a supporter of anyone in either the 57th District state rep race or the 4th District State Senate race. I have worked with both Talib and Yaphett El-Amin in the past and like them both very much. But the same goes for most of the people running against them.
I've worked for Yaphett's father, Eddie Hasan, in the past when I was editor of The St. Louis Argus, but we didn't end that relationship on very good terms. He still owes me money.
My issue with this story (which I really don't want to cover) is that the report which aired on Channel 5 was a textbook character assassination. It was one-sided and was only "news" because of Yaphett's senate race, not Talib's state rep race.
Talib is a small fish. He's just a committeeman. When was the last time Channel 5 reported on a committeeman? Jesus, I reported a few weeks ago that the committeeman of the 21st Ward has been taking thousands of dollars and not reporting it to the Ethics Commission. Did Channel 5 pick up on that?
This is all about that state senate seat. One that has traditionally been filled by a northside African-American and will probably again go to a white southside candidate.
But back to your charge, as you mentioned in your post, your number is not listed. I didn't have a way to contact you for your response -- but then, Mike Owens did a pretty good job of that.
If you would like contact me to provide more information or another response, please feel free to email me at editor@pubdef.net or call me at 518-2364.
5/27/2006 1:04 PM
This whole incident looks contribed to give free media press to the El-Amins, and I believe all parties involved knew how they were going to play it! This young lady never seemed angry from the beginning about this back child support, and anybody that deals with "Baby Mama Drama" knows that the Mama is angry to begin with or else it wouldn't be Drama! This young lady must have worked together with the El-Amins to bring this out, this seems to nice and they seem to close. Look at the Baby Mama's glowing comments about the family and how Mr. El-Amin loves his children, then why did she send this to the media if she believes that! This doesn't add up and then Mr. El-Amin calls a press conference to announce he is staying in the race to the end, wasn't it a close source to him that leaked that he may drop out of the race. This is classic political spin doctoring at its most deceiving, create a nasty story and then respond to the nasty story like a hero, even though you created the nasty story!
As a voter, it seems that all media outlets and politicians in the St. Louis region seem to have some connections to somebody. Mike Owens is being linked to some politicians according to a comment on this website, and now as a result of another comment Antonio (Pub Def) shares that he is linked to the El-Amins as a former employee of Eddie Hasan (Yaphett's father! But don't worry about your connection to the El-Amins, because Eddie Hasan still to this day owes you money, so we are to believe that you are definitely impartial! However, you feel that Talib should not drop out of the race because the El-Amin family has the best chance of winning that race and you will not do any more stories on this back child support issue with Talib, unless you feel it is extremely newsworthy!
But you don't support anyone in the State Representative or State Senate race! This whole political and media landscape stinks very badly, and the voter gets the shaft everytime.
Who can the voter trust to be truthful? We certainly can't trust the politicians, media, or any news outlets!
You never see a politician in your neighborhood until election time and they don't return your phone calls or respond to your needs for services. However, they will talk a lot of "bull", and ask you if you want a yard sign. To all politicians, take your yard sign and shove it up your vote!!!
May God have mercy on all of us!
5/28/2006 3:52 AM
Anony #4, this ain't CNN. I'm not saying "The Most Reliable" or "News You Can Trust." I'm not asking you to leave your brain at the door when you come here.
I assume that my readers are smart enough to judge for themselves what they believe or not. You obviously don't believe anything you read -- I like that.
As I've said before on this blog, take what you want and leave the rest.
5/28/2006 6:10 PM
Ive been on pub def since you started and Ive never seen such long feedbacks from people, which leaves me to believe that the anonymous feed backs which are very long are from Antonnia Washington.
5/29/2006 11:15 PM
Sorry ... Mr. Bastain or whatever name you're going by and whatever current SSN you're using ... I'm not falling for your act. I think you are skirting the facts and putting a good show for the camera, which only only confirms you are not only a "dead beat" dad, but a horrific liar as well. You failed to mention you had three (3) sets of children ... all with different women and if your wife is such an advocate for enforcing child support ... why did she use her government position to thwart efforts of the State collecting those arrears for the mother.
Through all your camouflage and patting yourself on the back, the facts still remain:
1. You both owe well over $12,000 in back support to the mother of one of your sets of chidren.
2. You received severance check from Ford and still did not make any attempt to meet your "arrears" obligation.
3. Stop claiming to be so self-righteous, donating a kidney does not guarantee or qualify you to maintian a city appointment. The Bible says "Charity begins at home". Where exactly is your home ... dare we ask???
4. If you're going to divulge the facts ... don't just use the ones that suit your attempts to look good for the camera.
5. Was the $80,000 you claim to have paid for one set or all three sets of children. Anyway, we are not concerned about what you've paid, but more or less what you still owe to your children.
6. If you were a real man you would own up to your responsibilities and not try to hide behind them. It appears you (with the aid of your devoted wife) have attempted (to no avail) to manipulate the system and rob a Mother who is trying to seek restitution through a legal avenue with the assistance of the public media.
Furthermore, I hope no one, especially the voters of St. Louis, is fooled by your pitiful camera act because I am not. Take my word, the voters of St. Louis will be making a dreadful mistake appointing you or your wife as representatives of the City or the State.
5/30/2006 4:04 PM
"Man up" Talib, its time to face your most valuable contribution to society, your children - - not your political campaign. No one is responsible for this situation but you and your wife Yaphet. I agree with Liz Brown (WGNU) when she countered Irene Smith, "this is a self-inflicted wound" which you brought upon yourself. You both knew of the backpayments you owed. "Man up" and make the payment. If you can't do this proceed to drop out of the race ... its the best thing for everyone involved.
5/31/2006 8:28 AM
he who is without sin cast the first stone!!!
5/31/2006 4:15 PM
Brain Harris ... drop dead! Its not voters fault you can't make a declarative judgement.
5/31/2006 7:26 PM
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9/30/2006 8:00 AM
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