CLINTON, Ky. - Tina Conner predicted Wednesday that she will be vindicated in her claims that Gov. Paul Patton retaliated against her western Kentucky nursing home after she broke off their affair.

Conner

        Ms. Conner said that she regrets the pain caused to her family and Mr. Patton's family since their two-year affair became public last week.

        “This has been the hardest decision of my life, exposing my personal failures to the public and certainly enduring this scrutiny,” she said Wednesday.

        Ms. Conner alleges that Mr. Patton unleashed regulators on her nursing home, Birchtree Healthcare in Clinton, after she ended the relationship.

        Mr. Patton, 65, made a public, tearful confession to the affair Friday but has denied using the office of governor to help or hurt Ms. Conner's business. On Tuesday, he said he was stepping back from political activities for the foreseeable future, possibly including his aspirations for a U.S. Senate bid in 2004.

        Birchtree, meanwhile, has filed for bankruptcy. Ms. Conner is suing Mr. Patton and state government, claiming sexual harassment, outrageous conduct and waste.

        Ms. Conner, 40, said she went public because she could “no longer stand idly by and allow the abuse of power to continue.” But she said she regrets the backlash against her and this town where she became a business and political leader.

        Her deepest concern, she said, is for the dozens of residents removed from her nursing home when the facility was dropped in July from the Medicare and Medicaid program after state inspectors cited problems.

        She said her three children, ages 20, 17 and 11, are coping well with the controversy.

        “I feel guilty about a lot of things, a lot of remorse,” she said. “It's been a humbling experience.”

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