Hastert should of known that this would of come out, and that if the Democrats find out that they would use it. Which of course the Democrats did find out and used it through CREW who ever for the most effect, a la 'October Surprise'.
Of course Hastert admits they kept the info away from the Democrat congressperson who also deals with the pages. So Hastert knew this was troublesome.
Hastert and company tried to manage this Foley mess. And it blew up and came out in the worse way, at the worse time with the most effect on Republicans. Who's fault is that? The Democrats? That Hastert gave them this on a sliver platter and even made it look like he covered it up?
Of course one has to give Hastert and the leadership a small pass because it is obvious that they couldn't see a political move two steps forward. It is just too beyond them.
I don't blame Democrats for acting like Democrats. I blame Hastert for not figuring it out. But then I don't think he is capable.
I've read a lot of threads on this since last weekend.
You've made some accusations about Hastert that I can't substiantiate, such as 'He should have known this would come out'
From what I've read, I can't find that he knew anything about it until last Friday, when everyone else did thanks to ABC. He was told their were 'overly friendly' email some time ago and it was handled.
"In the fall of 2005 Tim Kennedy, a staff assistant in the Speaker’s Office, received a telephone call from Congressman Rodney Alexander’s Chief of Staff who indicated that he had an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House page. He did not reveal the specific text of the email but expressed that he and Congressman Alexander were concerned about it.
Tim Kennedy immediately discussed the matter with his supervisor, Mike Stokke, Speaker Hastert’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Stokke directed Kennedy to ask Ted Van Der Meid, the Speaker’s in house Counsel, who the proper person was for Congressman Alexander to report a problem related to a former page.Ted Van Der Meid told Kennedy it was the Clerk of the House who should be notified as the responsible House Officer for the page program. Later thatday Stokke met with Congressman Alexander’s Chief of Staff. Once again the specific content of the email was not discussed. Stokke called the Clerk and asked him to come to the Speaker’s Office so that he could put him together with Congressman Alexander’s Chief of Staff. The Clerk and Congressman Alexander’s Chief of Staff then went to the Clerk’s Office to discuss the matter.
The Clerk asked to see the text of the email. Congressman Alexander’s office declined citing the fact that the family wished to maintain as much privacy as possible and simply wanted the contact to stop. The Clerk asked if the email exchange was of a sexual nature and was assured it was not. Congressman Alexander’s Chief of Staff characterized the email exchange as over-friendly.
The Clerk then contacted Congressman Shimkus, the Chairman of the Page Board to request an immediate meeting. It appears he also notified Van Der Meid that he had received the complaint and was taking action. This is entirely consistent with what he would normally expect to occur as he was the Speaker’s Office liaison with the Clerk’s Office.
The Clerk and Congressman Shimkus met and then immediately met with Foley to discuss the matter. They asked Foley about the email. Congressman Shimkus and the Clerk made it clear that to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and at the request of the parents, Congressman Foley was to immediately cease any communication with the young man.
The Clerk recalls that later that day he encountered Van Der Meid on the House floor and reported to him that he and Shimkus personally had spoken to Foley and had taken corrective action.
Mindful of the sensitivity to the parent’s wishes to protect their child’s privacy and believing that they had promptly reported what they knew to the proper authorities Kennedy, Van Der Meid and Stokke did not discuss the matter with others in the Speaker’s Office."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1712001/posts
Wrt CREW:
From same thread:
Who is C.R.E.W.?
Here’s what The Hill wrote:
One target of Republican criticism is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the group that last year assisted former Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas) in drafting an ethics complaint against DeLay, which resulted in an admonishment of DeLay from the ethics committee. At last week’s press conference, Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said that DeLay should step down as majority leader.
From 1995 to 1998, CREW’s Sloan served as minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee under Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). Before that, Sloan served as the nominations counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).
According to GOP research, Mark Penn, who had been a pollster for President Clinton, and Daniel Berger, a major Democratic donor, are on CREW’s board. Spokeswoman Naomi Seligman declined several requests to reveal the membership of CREW’s board, although she confirmed that Penn and Berger are members. Last year, Berger made a $100,000 contribution to America Coming Together (ACT), a 527 group that was dedicated to defeating Bush in the presidential election, according to politicalmoneyline.com, a website that tracks fundraising.
CREW declined to respond to the RNC talking points or House GOP research.
C.R.E.W. is one of four “public interest” organizations which the RNC has long identifed as major recipients of George Soros richly-funded Open Society Institute. It is backing the risible Wilson/Plame civil suit against Cheney and others.
Did you know that CREW represents Joe & Val Wilson in their lawsuit?:
_CREW Announces Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame Wilson to Add Armitage to Civil Suit
9/13/2006 2:25:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Naomi Seligman Steiner of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 202-588-5565
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) announced today that it is adding former Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage to the lawsuit filed by Valerie Plame Wilson and Joseph C. Wilson against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove and Vice President Richard Cheney. CREW represents the Wilsons in the litigation.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700881/posts
I don't know if Melanie Sloane was the 'lawyer' that was on CNN, but, I saw her screeching a couple of soundbites on another show the other night. Here's a little info about Ms Sloane:
UPDATE III: CREW is a George Soros funded organization, but there is more:
“From 1995 to 1998, CREW’s Melanie Sloan served as minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee under Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). Before that, Sloan served as the nominations counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).
According to GOP research, Mark Penn, who had been a pollster for President Clinton, and Daniel Berger, a major Democratic donor, are on CREW’s board. Spokeswoman Naomi Seligman declined several requests to reveal the membership of CREW’s board, although she confirmed that Penn and Berger are members. Last year, Berger made a $100,000 contribution to America Coming Together (ACT), a 527 group that was dedicated to defeating Bush in the presidential election, according to politicalmoneyline.com, a website that tracks fundraising.”
So we have a person who served under Clinton, and Rep. “Inpeachment” Conyers, who just “happened” to obtain emails and chats and “holding them” to just six weeks out of a midterm election where IF Democrats gain control of Congress, said Rep. Conyers has promised to impeach President Bush. More here.
Right. CREW was also instrumental behind the “get Delay” effort. More on CREW here. By Sloan’s admission, when she came on board at CREW her “mission” (before anything was known) was to “get Tom Delay”.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1711702/posts