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DEAD LINK - This is the page that now greets users of Daily Kos trying to access the divorce records of Illinois millionaire Bill Foster. The link was removed after majorityap.com reported that a user of the site had posted court documents from Foster's contentious 1996 divorce.

According to Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder and publisher of the Democrat activist website DailyKos, “tens of thousands of regular Americans have used Daily Kos to lend their voice to a political world once the domain of the rich, connected, and powerful.”

But sometimes, it seems, even liberals need to appease the rich, connected and powerful.

Within hours of a majorityap.com report that a DailyKos user had posted court records from the contentious divorce proceedings of Illinois millionaire Bill Foster, the link was deleted.

Foster is the Democrat candidate in the race to succeed former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert. A special election will be held Saturday, March 8, to fill the remainder of Hastert’s term.

The race has received a great deal of attention among Democrat activists, including those at DailyKos. According to website postings, a number of DailyKos followers supported Foster’s Democrat primary opponent, John Laesch, who they claimed was more sympathetic to the on-line community’s progressive political views. Laesch was active in several Democrat campaigns before seeking office himself in 2006, when he opposed Hastert.

Foster is a first-time office seeker who has moved in and out of the district, and has rarely voted in general elections. Foster did not vote in 2006 - the last Congressional election - when Laesch was a candidate.

One of those preferring Laesch was a user who goes by the name of Deerborneblue. The writer posted portions of Foster’s publicly-available divorce records, claiming they were forwarded to him by “a former reporter, who sent me some stuff that didn't print before leaving that job.”

The link has since been removed (WARNING – Takes longer to load through majorityap.com. Users wishing to access the dead link are advised to cut and paste the address into their web browser).

Foster’s divorce records include several embarrassing, and potentially damaging, revelations. Among them, Foster’s then-wife Ann claimed under oath that the millionaire politician “pushed, shoved and caused physical abuse and emotional harm…putting her in fear for herself (and the couple’s) minor children.”

Foster was also admonished by Circuit Court Judge Keith Brown, who presided over the couple’s divorce, for including a provision that would penalize his wife if she moved out of the Batavia, IL, school district.

The couple’s divorce settlement stipulated that if Ann Foster moved prior to their daughter’s eighteenth birthday, “wife shall pay to husband the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000).” Circuit Court Judge Keith Brown, who presided over the couple’s divorce, seemed stunned.

“I have never seen a provision as this, such as $50,000 payment if someone moves out of the school district,” the judge said to Foster in a transcript obtained by majorityap.com. “I’m not sure if that’s – let’s say when that day comes, the enforceability of that provision would be an issue.”

Contrary to that exchange, Foster claims on his campaign website that the couple “agreed to live within a few blocks of each other” following their divorce.

Foster also notes on his campaign website that his ex-wife “works as a software engineer for (his) company in Wisconsin.” According to the divorce settlement, Foster was required to continue employing his ex-wife.

“You understand that under the terms of this agreement, she reserves the right to maintenance (formerly alimony) if she is no longer employed by your family’s business or if her current income level decreases through no fault of her own,” Foster’s attorney reminded his client during court proceedings.

As part of the agreement, Foster was also required to pay $150 a month in child support, which Ann Foster’s attorney noted in that same transcript was “under the statutory minimum.”

This is not the first time DailyKos has responded to reporting done by the Majority Accountability Project. In August, a writer at the site openly expressed frustration with majorityap.com’s success in shedding light on the activities of the Democrat majority in Congress.

The entry called for a “counter-attack to groups like Majority AP,” and the “need to pass legislation that disbands” the website.