Embattled Staten Island Rep. Vito Fossella's wife was blindsided by allegations he may have fathered a love child, and is unlikely to stay at his side if it turns out to be true, a source close to the family said.
"She's not going to be standing by her man," the source told The Post yesterday.
Mary Pat Fossella, 42, may have known that her husband had been having an affair but was "shocked" to hear about reports that he told police he was going to be with his "sick daughter" when they arrested him for drunken driving last week, the source said.
If she decided to leave the veteran congressman, it would complicate matters for him politically. He also faces possible jail time.
Vito Fossella, 43, zipped back to the city late Tues day to attend his son's con firmation at the Church of St. Claire's on Staten Island yesterday. He then returned to his Washington office, where he declined to answer questions.
"The congressman has no comment," said an aide as they left the office late yesterday.
EXIT STAGE RIGHT: Conservative SI Rep. Vito Fossella scoots out of his office yesterday, avoiding questions about his DWI bust.
His wife was seen late in the day playing basketball with their three children in the driveway of their Staten Island home. She also declined to comment.
Word of a possible affair emerged in the aftermath of the DWI arrest when it was revealed that he had called his friend, former Air Force Col. Laura Fay, to sign him out of jail.
When he was stopped, he told police he was driving to "Grimm Street" in Alexandria, Va., to pick up his "sick daughter."
Fay lives on Grimm Drive and has a 3-year-old daughter.
The drumbeat of daily stories detailing Fossella's relationship with Fay has begun to take its toll and the congressman is said to be mulling his political future, several sources said. He faces re-election in the fall.
Word swirled yesterday through GOP political circles that Fossella was going to hold an afternoon press conference to discuss the arrest and answer questions - but he apparently changed his mind, sources said.
One source familiar with the situation said Fossella "really doesn't know what he is going to do."
Fossella, who was elected in 1997, is an arch-conservative with close ties to the Bush White House, which may make it more difficult for him to recover.
EXIT STAGE RIGHT: Conservative SI Rep. Vito Fossella scoots out of his office yesterday, avoiding questions about his DWI bust.
"When you espouse family values and you're the one that falls, it's a little harder to get up," said one GOP source.
Fossella is said to have been calling numerous GOP officials to both gauge their support and see if there was a way he could avoid serving jail time, several top state Republicans said.
Some said he should do the jail time and get it over with, and that he could still survive. But others said he couldn't survive politically if he did that.
"He cannot do a day in jail," said one GOP source.
But the godfather of the Staten Island GOP said yesterday he will continue to back Fossella's re-election bid.
"I'm going to be with Vito - no matter what," said Guy Molinari, the longtime GOP boss, former congressman and borough president.
Additional reporting by Kevin Fasick in Washington and Carl Campanile, Rich Calder and Joe Mollica in New York
