Posted on 10/04/2006 3:51:45 PM PDT by Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh
HIGHLIGHT EXCERPT OF TRANSCRIPT - 10/3/06 CBS NEWS EARLY SHOW
***** "SUSAN McGINNIS, anchor:
The FBI admits it had copies of Mark Foley's e-mails in July but it says it didnot follow up because House Republicans said they would handle the matter."
SUSAN McGINNIS, anchor:
The political fallout from the Capitol Hill scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley has already begun. The Washington Times is calling on House Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign. And Republicans are getting more worried about next month's midterm elections. Gloria Borger reports.
GLORIA BORGER reporting:
There is no getting around it, the unraveling of the page scandal could be the undoing of some House Republican leaders if not their hold on Congress. Congressman Mark Foley has left the premises to undergo rehab for what he called "alcoholism and related behavioral problems," as the FBI and Florida officials began investigating his contacts with a young male page.
But on Capitol Hill, one senior House Republican tells CBS News that this scandal "could be the congressional equivalent of Katrina. Our base is moral conservatives and we look like a bunch of hypocrites who just didn't want another scandal before the election."
Republicans name their new candidate, but winning is a long shot. And increasingly, angry Republicans are asking, did their leaders keep this secret to save a precious House seat? Republican Shelley Capito is demanding an answer.
Representative SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (Republican, West Virginia): Well,, certainly I'm outraged at the circumstances.
BORGER: She's one of the three members in charge of Capitol Hill pages and she says she was kept in the dark.
Rep. CAPITO: If there was a concerted effort to keep Mr. Foley in Congress for whatever reason, political or otherwise, then I think that will come to light in the FBI investigation.
BORGER: Some religious conservatives may not want to wait for the FBI's report and they have House Speaker Dennis Hastert in their sights. The speaker defended himself, saying he didn't know of any explicit e-mails until last week.
Representative DENNIS HASTERT: Congressman Foley duped a lot of people.
BORGER: But Vin Weber, a former Republican House leader, asked how those in charge could have been so passive about a Foley e-mail to a young male page asking for his picture by simply describing it as overly friendly.
Mr. VIN WEBER (Former Congressman, Republican, Minnesota): I mean, it's just an inappropriate relationship. It should have sent off signal bells right from the start.
BORGER: That's because Foley chaired the House caucus working against sexual predators.
And consider this: If House Republican leaders had informed Democrats and law enforcement, they would've been able to manage this politically. And more importantly, a serious investigation would already be under way. Gloria Borger, CBS News, Washington.
*****
SUSAN McGINNIS, anchor:
The FBI admits it had copies of Mark Foley's e-mails in July but it says it did not follow up because House Republicans said they would handle the matter. Now investigators will determine if Foley violated the law. Sharyl Attkisson reports.
SHARYL ATTKISSON reporting:
Irony of ironies, Mark Foley could find himself prosecuted under the very law he helped write. It's called the Adam Lost Child Protection Act. That's Foley in the blue tie and gray suit, shaking President Bush's hand when the bill was signed in July.
Representative MARK FOLEY (Republican, Florida): I hope today's bill is a pedophile's worst nightmare.
ATTKISSON: Among other things, the new law makes it harder for sexual predators to reach out to children on the Internet, just what Foley is suspected of doing in a series of sexually explicit e-mail exchanges with teenage congressional pages.
Mr. BLAKE YOCOM (House Page 2003-2004): Congressman Foley, I would say, you know, was the winner in knowing the most pages and knowing them on a first-name basis.
ATTKISSON: Blake Yocom was a page in 2003. He says at the time, he wrote off Foley's interest in him and his young colleagues as overly friendly, but it's much creepier in retrospect.
Mr. YOCOM: A few of my close friends who were pages, you know, suspected that Congressman Foley was homosexual, but not necessarily--you know, we never suspected pedophilia out of Congressman Foley.
ATTKISSON: Of course, Foley hasn't been charged with anything. That may depend on whether he actually tried to meet up with the teens he was e-mailing. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales commented that the e-mails were, quote, "pretty awful" and "disturbing." Foley was so interested in the page program, he once praised them in a tearful speech on the House floor as their time in Washington ended. Here, he's speaking of a contest where the pages bid for the privilege of lunch with him.
Rep. FOLEY: (From file footage) I said, `Where do you want to go?' He says without reservation, `Morton's.' And so we proceeded to cruise down in my BMW to Morton's. And all of this story is meant to make you all feel jealous that you weren't the high bidders.
ATTKISSON: Melanie Sloan, who heads a liberal watchdog group in Washington, The Center for Responsibility and Ethics, says there were warning signs galore about Foley's conduct. Last July, her group sent some of the overly friendly e-mails to the FBI, but she says no action followed.
Ms. MELANIE SLOAN (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington): I would have grabbed Foley's computer right away and started examining it.
ATTKISSON: The FBI may not have seen it, but some 16-year-olds sensed Foley was crossing a line that other congressmen didn't.
Ms. JENNA KELSEY (Former Congressional Page): I--a friend Matt and a friend Tim, and he would always see them first. And he would be like, `Hi, Mattie. Hi, Timmy.' And we used to be like, `That's pretty funny of him to say that. You know, that's kind of weird.'
ATTKISSON: This isn't the first time there's been a page scandal on Capitol Hill. In 1983, two members of Congress were censured for having illicit sexual affairs with young pages.
Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News, Capitol Hill.
***** ===================================
Okay, so how can we force CBS to back up this story or retract it?
I don't care what Borger, or anyone else say, this is backfiring BIG TIME on these moronic ahole Dems.
The emails aren't the problem--it's the IMs. No one knew about the IMs until Friday.
Is this your title?
Do not create such provocative titles.
WELL, somebody better tell the CLYMERS that their little guy was 18 years old when this happen! Drudge JUST scooped them again!!
No doubt about it.
This should put to rest the idiotic defense that the GOP leadership didn't do anything wrong because the FBI didn't get involved over the summer. Did anyone seriously believe that defense anyway? It sounds like something a teenager would say: "But Billy did it, too."
Regardless of what the FBI did or didn't do, the House leadership should have acted. But they didn't.
Provocative title? That's exactly what the CBS news reporter said.
But on Capitol Hill, one senior House Republican tells CBS News that this scandal "could be the congressional equivalent of Katrina. Our base is moral conservatives and we look like a bunch of hypocrites who just didn't want another scandal before the election."It needed to be said. And it is worth repeating.
ABC will catch up on current events in a day or two. Meanwhile they just make fools of themselves.
Correction CBS...but likely ABC also
look=looked
An unnamed "Republican" source said this? Invoking Katrina is Dem territory.
I did not here about this, is the story posted on FR?
The media frenzy is absolutely hysterical. I just had to switch off FNC, because Shep is in a real dither about this....not telling the truth, just the democrat spin. We have lost FNC as a fair news organization I'm afraid. Ratings were posted earlier today on Drudge, and all the FNC shows are down. Mr. Oreilly is still at number one, followed by Larry King, and then the rest of the FNC lineup. Surprises of all surprises was that the olberidiot almost had 800000 viewers for his liars and hate speech show. OH, and Glenn Beck is now beating Scarborough but still behind the spitter.
The liberals are getting desperate. They can go shove it.
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