How Could She Not Have Known?

Gayle: Did you get angry? Did you ever confront Jim? "How dare you! How could you? Why did you?" Did you ever have that conversation with him?

Dina: There were confrontations. And I expected him to say he'd made a horrible mistake. And that he was sorry. I wanted him to acknowledge that he had destroyed our lives. He never did.

Gayle: He never said he was sorry?

Dina: He did, but it wasn't heartfelt. Some friends told him that I was upset that he hadn't even apologized, and immediately after that he came to me and said, "For the record, I'm sorry." I wanted to throw him against a wall. But I'm not a confrontational person. I just turned and walked away because I couldn't believe I'd just heard that. I wanted him to be sincere. I wanted him to say, "I know I did a terrible thing. I know you're going through a tough time and I want to help you through this."


Gayle: So who helped you through this?

Dina: Helped me how?

Gayle: Helped you cope. Survive. Stand up.

Dina: My family was very supportive. Knowing my nature, they didn't pry, but I knew they were there if I needed them.

Gayle: What do you mean, didn't pry? They didn't ask you about it?

Dina: No. Ever since I was a kid, my attitude has always been, "If I want you to know something, I'll tell you." I've always believed I can take care of things myself.

Gayle: It's clear from the book that you're a private person. But at one point, you reached out to Hillary Clinton. Why?

Dina: Because the media coverage was so crazy. Reporters were constantly following me. I didn't even want to go to work. I didn't know anyone who had gone through something similar—that kind of humiliation—but then Hillary came to mind. What happened to her marriage was so public.

Gayle: Was she compassionate?

Dina: Very. I said, "How did you get through it?" And she said, "My faith." She also said, "Think of your daughter. And don't let his people make decisions for you. Get your own counsel." Which made sense, because Jim's advisers were obviously looking out for him, not me.