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Early this month, Kelly Rutherford started a White House Petition urging President Obama to somehow bring her children back from Monaco, where they have lived since 2012 with their father, Daniel Giersch, a German citizen, and their paternal grandmother. Rutherford and Giersch’s children, Hermes, 8, and Helena, 5, see their mother every few weeks – when she is flown to visit them on Giersch’s dime – and over the summer. Rutherford’s many attempts to have the custody ruling overthrown have failed, including on the federal level.

Rutherford’s flawed argument both in the WH petition and in her overturned federal case was that her children have been deported and that their rights as US Citizens are being denied. She repeated these claims in a bizarre interview on TMZ live last week, stating that “whoever brings my kids home is going to be pretty much a hero. I mean they’re going to be doing the right thing for children, for citizens of America. It’s a very pro-America thing to do..”

Throughout Kelly’s ongoing and attacking statements to the press, her ex has remained admirably quiet. Giersch has finally responded through his lawyer and he states that he’s concerned for the children’s safety. He’s also blocked Kelly from seeing the children until she turns over their US passports to a neutral third party. This seems perfectly reasonable, Giersch’s lawyer states that it’s part of the custody agreement, and the children can still visit the US as German citizens, they’re just limited to a 90 day visit. Kelly arrived in Monaco yesterday, Thursday, and Giersh’s lawyer tells the NY Daily News that “We are concerned that the children are in imminent danger and need to be protected, and as a result the school and the police have extra security measures.” I don’t blame them, given everything Kelly has said. Here is the relevant part of the News’ report:

We’re told Rutherford arrived in Monaco… on Thursday. But [Giersch] whom she divorced in 2010 after a four-year marriage, refused to hand off the kids until she coughed up their papers.

In an interview with Confidenti@l, Giersch’s lawyer, Fahi Takesh Hallin, confirmed the development.

“We are concerned that the children are in imminent danger and need to be protected, and as a result the school and the police have extra security measures, which they have anyway at this time because of the Grand Prix in Monaco and the Cannes Film Festival,” she said.

“Daniel is requesting per the terms of the California judgment that a neutral party hold the children’s passports while mother (Rutherford) has custody of the children abroad,” she added, “and that is simply carrying out the terms of the California order, and is also a very neutral thing because of the very deep concern given the statement that she made.”

The actress appeared on “TMZ Live” May 13 and said, “I think that, you know, whoever brings my kids home is going to be pretty much of a hero.”

Giersch responded Thursday with a statement from Takesh Hallin saying, “Her statement that anyone who brings the parties’ children back to the United States in violation of the custody orders would be considered an American hero is not only false, as this would be an illegal and criminal act, but it creates a very real and present risk for the children’s safety.”

A source close to Rutherford told us, “There’s no order against Kelly talking about her case. She has followed all of the court orders. Daniel is upset that the truth is coming out.”

“This is to distract from the fact that he still hasn’t applied for a visa and all of the orders he has ignored in both California and Monaco,” added the insider. “The California order says California would retain jurisdiction, but he asked Monaco to take jurisdiction.”

In 2012, Giersch, a German citizen, argued he could not enter the States because his work visa had been revoked, and successfully petitioned California Superior Court Judge Teresa Beaudet to let him take their children to live in Monaco. Rutherford has visited them about 70 times.

[From The NY Daily News]

You know how I feel about this. I feel sorry for the kids, not because they’re living in Monaco with their dad and Oma, but because their mom isn’t co-parenting reasonably. It’s understandable that Giersch is requesting that Rutherford turn over the children’s US passports to a neutral party, that seems like a necessary safeguard against having the children kept in the US indefinitely. Remember, Kelly filed an emergency custody petition last summer to keep the children with her in the US (which failed), and she threatened to do so against court orders, although she didn’t follow through. She recently claimed that her ex has filed a case in Monaco to strip her of parental rights. Given all the many ways she’s attempted to do that to him – by having him deported, but threatening to keep the children – it seems more reactionary than vindictive on his part. I’m interested to see if Kelly is eventually allowed to bring the children with her to the US for the summer. I bet she will be able to despite everything she’s said. I’m also interested to see how this case turns out.

Oh and Kelly started a crowdrise campaign to raise money for her legal expenses, but she’s since deleted the page. You can still contribute to her “Children’s Justice Campaign.” Because a woman who can throw fundraising parties attended by celebrities needs strangers over the Internet to give her money.

Note: Several outlets are running a photo of Kelly purportedly with Giersch in 2010. I don’t think that other guy (photo on E! and NY Daily News) is actually Giersch but maybe he got surgery or something.

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View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com