Conflicts of interest. Abuses of power. Violent threats against his ex-wife. Throw in an extra-marital affair with a lobbyist, and you have a rough picture of the bombshell that rocked Georgia politics this week and forced the resignation of State House Speaker Glenn Richardson on Thursday:

Richardson’s political career suffered a massive hit this week when his ex-wife, Susan, spilled a lifetime of secrets in an interview with an Atlanta television station. Susan Richardson told WAGA that she caught her then-husband in an affair with a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas Light while Richardson was advocating legislation that would have benefited the utility. (…)

She also said that she recently started dating again and left their children with Glenn Richardson to go out of town with a new boyfriend. This enraged him, she said, and he sent her 49 text messages and voice mails threatening to beat her up, accusing her of abandoning her children and threatening to turn her into DFACS and to have the state patrol and GBI come track her down.

Glenn Richardson has not responded to — or refuted — anything that his ex-wife has said. [emphasis added]

The likely reason Richardson declined to refute the allegations is that Susan Richardson provided emails and text messages proving each allegation during her interview. This is the rare case in politics where “spin” and “damage control” simply aren’t possible.

Instead, Richardson resigned at 4pm Thursday, though he claims he'll remain in the legislature until January 1st.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more details on the story, as well as a video of the shocking interview that started the frenzy:

One last note about this scandal is the typically classless way Georgia’s Republican establishment chose to respond -- they tried to keep it private and, failing that, showed more concern for Glenn Richardson’s pocketbook than for the shattered public trust he leaves behind. Again, from the AJC:

By sunset Wednesday, calls went out to the three Republican leaders of the House: Richardson, Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter of Johns Creek, and Majority Leader Jerry Keen of St. Simons Island, asking them to assemble at the residence of Gov. Sonny Perdue for an evening discussion.

One item on the agenda, we’re told, was how to ease Richardson’s exit. The $99,082.95 he earns each year as speaker is his primary source of income, and times are hard.