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
It's appearing more and more as though ABC ran this to make up for running the 9/11 show critical of Clinton.
rove is brilliant, and not to mention that the overzealous dems are again waking up wondering what hit them.
It appear the only thing about this story that the media would find "unusual" is that Foley is a Republican.
If he was a Democrat, the ACLU would be in there defending Foley and the invasion of privacy.
Mr Istook.....there are sabateurs in your midst!!!
and the official white house statement was "we trust that the speaker will use whatever leadership he has to investigate this". I thought that was strangely worded when I heard it.
Why would ANY Republican hire someone that went to BERKLEY???? RED FLAG WARNING!!!
Hastert and ALL Republicans are the TARGET.
You are an idiot. WHY would Istook have to step aside??
Better question is why is Istook running for governor of oklahoma, with gay california campaign managers..... and running such a BAD campaign. It's not like there aren't political advisors here in Oklahoma who would have some good insight.
WHO did Jordan Edmund blackmail?
Who are the prominent Dems he has ties to?
WHO is Englander? I've never heard that name. I must admit this is a most confusing scandal to follow....so many gays, so little time.
I doubt that there is a problem raising money to pay a lawyer.
Think about it. Gay sex. Computers. Gay porn. Underage gay porn.
Maybe home movies involving all of the above.
Fund raisers with hundreds of names on their computers, some straight and some gay.
Maybe hundreds of gays with political ties to Washington.
FBI digging into these same computers.
Yes, I think they need a lawyer and there are many that would help pay the fee.
This could be the biggest scandal to hit DC.
Which would answer a lot of questions about legislation that gets passed or legislation that doesn't get passed.
Can the Dems spell Karl Rove.
The Dems jumped on the phones with "Foley is a pedophile".
I'm trying to make a comparison with IMs with a "willing" page and Bubba with a "willing intern", in my house besides.
Is that a REAL letter???
RICO!!!
Sabotage? YES!! And my guess is that there are LOTS of DEMS in Republicans campaigns to sabotage them also! I think the DEms have someone Following and Taping , ala Macaca at Allen's, at EVERY Repub event.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.