Posted on 10/04/2006 8:39:44 PM PDT by PhiKapMom
A former U.S. House page working on the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Rep. Ernest Istook may be a part of the scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley, The Oklahoman has learned.
The former page, a Californian named Jordan Edmund, on Wednesday hired Enid attorney Stephen Jones to represent him, the attorney confirmed.
Jones would not say exactly why he was hired, but did say, “I understand the FBI and the House Ethics committee have an interest in the matter ... the allegations concerning Congressman Foley which have surfaced.”
Foley, a Republican from Florida, resigned abruptly on Friday after it was learned that he exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with former pages. The FBI is investigating.
Istook’s campaign manager, Chip Englander, who is also from California, declined comment Wednesday to an Oklahoman reporter.
However, Englander gave The Oklahoman a statement that was attributed to Istook.
The statement says, “The sad and sick behavior of Mark Foley was a total surprise to me when it was revealed. Law enforcement is doing its job, and I support that effort. Now we should all support and protect the victims, and they should not be hounded by the press.
“It was a complete surprise to learn this morning that one victim may be someone I know. Each one of the victims deserves their privacy. To every reporter I request, please have the decency to avoid making things worse for the victims, and just leave them alone. This happened years ago when the victims were minors.”
Reached at his home, Istook referred to the prepared statement.
Edmund’s name surfaced on Internet “blogs” that linked him to the instant message address used in communications with Foley.
One blogger got the instant message address from the Web site of ABC News, which has obtained the instant messages sent between Foley and a former page.
In the sequence of messages identified by the blogger, Foley tells the person to “strip down and get relaxed.”
It is not clear whether Foley’s other instant messages, including one in which he apparently conducted “instant message” sex with a person, were all to the same person.
Asked why Edmund needed an attorney, Jones said, “You read the blogs. You know why he needs an attorney.”
Jones, who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in his murder trial in Denver, confirmed Edmund was a U.S. House page.
“I’ve been retained in the last several hours,” Jones said. “I’m still reviewing matters.”
Jones said the two met Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
Edmund had an Internet page on the popular MySpace Web site.
On that page, he identified himself as being 21 years old and said he had been attending college at the University of California at Berkeley. He said he was going to Oklahoma to be deputy campaign manager for Istook’s gubernatorial effort, the Web site stated.
Edmund registered to vote in Oklahoma in March, records show.
The House Ethics Committee is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting this morning about the Foley matter.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, one of the 10 members of the committee, flew back to Washington on Wednesday for what he called an “emergency meeting.”
He said the committee today would not hear from witnesses but would set the parameters of the investigation.
Contributing: Staff Writers Joe Wertz, Bryan Dean, Jennifer Mock and Ryan McNeill
Copyright 2006
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061004/news_1n4page.html
Article in today's San Diego Union Tribune on one of the
pages
Huh? You doubting PhiKapMom?? Really?
Go away.
Sabotage?
Edmunds needs a defense attorney because Hastert wrote the FBI and asked them to find out who has had the IM's for the last 3 years. Hiring a big gun is like a shot over the bow to prosecutors. Warning: Don't come after me unlelss you have the goods.
Emphasize Republican *types*, because where I come from, you're the best Republican.
I consider you a blessing from above.
ewwwwww......ROFL!
Hiring Stephen Jones is not something you would do unless you think you are going to be in big trouble with the Feds IMHO.
Let's just pray that one doesn't catch on...
"gaygate" is much, much more apt. I said a few nights ago that this is just going to focus attention on marriage legislation, which helps get out the vote. This is really a gay scandal, not a Republican scandal.
Besides Foley two names that have come into play are Rogers and John Aravosis of America’s Blog. Both are gay activists who on many occassions have threatened not only Foley and Fordham with outing, but others as well. These guys are what we call “Political Thugs”, the only thing they don’t use is guns, but they do nearly as much damage. Others call it by it’s real name - blackmail.
Again, the FBI - and I have this on good source - are aware of both individuals and looking into their involvement as well. As I said before we cops aren’t so stupid as to just look at an IM log or an email and say, “Oh look at that?, case closed!”
You have to prove that they originated on a specific computer, from a specific individual. If they weren’t they you have to find out who did create them. In any case are evidence, and as such if they were, as is apparent at this point, withheld from authorities for five months, one year or twenty five minutes, that’s breaking the law and such individuals could be charged for that.
http://www.macsmind.com/wordpress/2006/10/04/foley-setup-part-vi/
Thank you! I was asked not to post on local blogs because I was stirring the pot by not supporting every last person with an R behind their name. I refuse to support anyone that does push polls which my State Rep did.
At our women's meeting where we were passing out money to candidates, two of us stood up against a candidate because he wasn't pro-life and we said he shouldn't get that much money. I had done some research and found he had only scored a 2.5 out of 4 on a pro-life survey. Since I was head of the Committee, I couldn't bring it up so I had another lady bring it up and I joined in and we cut him down what he was getting.
PhiKapMom, thanks for posting, BTTT
Has anyone read the entire IM thread in question? I know there is a time and date stamp. I was once an AOL user, but that was over 10 years ago. I understand that IM's are time and date stamped, however, say you save a copy to your computer, how hard would it be to tamper with them? Change the text here or there. Perhaps this could explain why there is a reference to a Feb 23, 2003 birthday, when the datestamp said it was already April.
I requested a zot. Done and done. ;OD
A few days before this editorial - WashTimes Human Resource guy was arrested for soliciting sex with a 13 yr old girl in a sting operation.
Maybe they wanted to change the subject!!
I never thought of sabotage before but it might make sense. I have never seen a campaign quite like this one. He sure didn't run his House races like this campaign. There is no traction at all. He wants to do a commercial using cartoon characters. It is odd!
I cannot believe Karl Rove is coming in for a fundraiser Monday evening for Istook.
Perhaps after a walk in the woods, Istook might tell Okies they have a new candidate.
If Fordham is Foleys chief of staff is it possible he had Foleys password to his aol acct? Could he have logged on using Foley's name and played on the puter?
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