Kimberley Jordinson is an interior designer and ex-wife of Patrick Shanahan, the outgoing acting Secretary of Defense. They have three children together.
President Trump nominated Patrick Shanahan to the position permanently but Shanahan was forced to withdraw after a domestic violence case between him and Kimberley resurfaced from 2010. Shanahan had been serving as Deputy Secretary of Defense since July 2017. President Trump tweeted that Patrick was not moving forward to “focus on his family”.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who has done a wonderful job, has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process so that he can devote more time to his family….
Here’s what you need to know:
1. She Was Involved in a Messy Divorce with Patrick Shanahan
Behind the scenes, @ActingSecDef Shanahan wrestled with how to handle a baseball bat attack in his family that rattled its foundation. He speaks on the record with @washingtonpost here:
According to USA Today, Patrick and Kimberley were involved in a “bitter legal battle that spanned more than six years” following their divorce. They were fighting over custody of their three children and “significant financial holdings” that Patrick had amassed over the course of his career. According to court records, Patrick was earning $935,000 annually in salary and bonuses in 2010.
The domestic violence incident, detailed in this police report , describes an alcohol-fueled argument between the couple that got out of hand. Police were called to investigate a disturbance at the couple’s residence at 1:00 a.m. on August 28, 2010, to find Patrick with a black eye and bloody nose and Kimberley with a bloody forearm. Officers questioned Kimberley and say she had “a strong odor of alcohol” along with “bloodshot eyes” and “incoherent speech”.
In the police report, officers say Kimberley and Patrick were arguing over whether or not to put their daughter back in school for her senior year. During the argument, Kimberley threw a pile of Patrick’s clothes onto their front porch and then attempted to remove the propane tank from their backyard grill to set them on fire. When that didn’t work, she tried lighting a roll of paper towels on fire in an attempt to set the clothes ablaze.
Patrick was allegedly trying to pack up the clothes in a suitcase and leave the residence when Kimberley tried to stop him. She alleges that as they fought over the suitcase, Patrick punched her “several times” in the stomach and also demonstrated to officers that she was “struck in the face”. Patrick’s account alleges that Kimberley was the aggressor and came at him swinging her arms in a “paddling motion” striking him several times while he was asleep as he tried to cover his face.
The couple’s son corroborated Patrick’s version of events and told police he saw Kimberley attempting to light the clothes on fire though he did not see either parent hit each other. The police determined that Kimberley was the aggressor due to the marks on her forearm and Patrick’s injuries were consistent with his version of events. She was arrested and booked at the local jail. The charges were later dismissed.
2. After Her Divorce, She Moved to Sarasota, Florida
After her divorce from Patrick Shanahan, Kimberley returned to her maiden name, Kimberley Jordinson, and moved to Sarasota, Florida. Patrick remained in Seattle.
According to The Washington Post, all three of the Shanahan children are estranged from their mother.
3. Her Son Fractured her Skull with a Baseball Bat During an Argument in 2011
Analysis: The troubling questions raised by Shanahan’s withdrawal as Pentagon pick
The Shanahan family has a history of domestic dispute incidents. According to the Washington Post, at around Midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, Kimberley and her son William Shanahan got into a verbal dispute over Kimberley’s suspicions that her 17-year-old son had been dating a 36-year-old woman. According to police, William “shoved and pinned his mother against a bathroom wall” then grabbed a composite baseball bat “to swing at her head,” striking her multiple times in the skull and elbow.
Kimberley Shanahan described the incident in a court filing for the custody case “I attempted to run away from Will, but as I reached the laundry room, he struck me with the bat in the back of my head,” she wrote “The last thing I remember from before I lost consciousness is the impact of the bat, and blood gushing everywhere.” Patrick unplugged the landline at their home so that his siblings couldn’t call the police and allegedly threw a bottle of rubbing alcohol to his younger brother and said “you clean her up,”
Kimberley was hospitalized with a fractured skull and elbow that required surgery. As police began searching for William, Patrick Shanahan caught the first flight out to Florida and booked a local hotel room for him and his son to stay in. While there, he assembled a legal defense team and enlisted family members to help convince the judge to keep Patrick out of prison.
In a custody filing, Patrick commented on his handling of the situation, “It was a hard time to see your son — hopefully you’ll never be in that spot someday,” adding, “I wasn’t hiding. We got a hotel and talked to the attorney, and we just camped out.”
William Shanahan finally turned himself in on November 27 and was charged with aggravated battery and tampering with a victim. He faced up to 15 years in prison. He eventually pleaded down to a third-degree felony and spent 18 months at a Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch as well as being sentenced to four years’ probation. Both penalties were later reduced.
4. Kimberley Jordinson Owns an Interior Design Business
According to her LinkedIn profile, Kimberley is the owner of KGJ Interior Design and KGJ Properties Management. She opened both businesses after Patrick filed for divorce and she moved to Sarasota with the couple’s children.
No website exists for either of the businesses. The mailing address for KGJ Properties Management is listed as her home address in Sarasota. She purchased a 16,254-square-foot former Churchills Furniture building for $1.25 million in 2014 to serve as the location for her interior design business.
5. She Was Accused of Vandalizing Her Business Partner’s Mercedes With a Sledgehammer in 2014
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According to a probable cause affidavit, on August 23, 2014 Kimberley Jordinson was on the phone with her business partner Eric Goodman when he had to cut the call short. Goodman called her back and an argument ensued where Jordinson hung up on him. She then texted him “get your piece of sh*t car out of my driveway.”
Goodman was storing a 2003 Mercedes C230 at her house on 109 N Warbler Lane. When he returned to pick it up, the front and rear windshield were busted out and there were numerous dents around the vehicle. Goodman spoke to her neighbor “Gardner” who told police he saw Kimberley with “a medium-sized sledgehammer methodically circling a Mercedes Benz that was parked in her driveway” and that he observed “Jordinson strike all sides of the Mercedes, including the front and back windshields, with a sledgehammer”
Kimberley Jordinson was arrested on December 19, 2014 for burglarizing an unoccupied structure and damaging property worth $1,000 or more.
All charges were dismissed after she completed a pre-trial diversion program.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this report included incorrect biographical information about Kimberley Jordinson and quotes incorrectly attributed to her. The article also briefly contained photos of a woman who is not Jordinson. The information was based on a profile of a different Kimberley Shanahan who does not have any connection to outgoing Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. Heavy regrets the error.