Posted on 10/10/2006 11:43:13 AM PDT by TexKat
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Tuesday he'll dismiss anyone on his staff found to have covered up concerns about ex-Rep. Mark Foley's approaches to former pages.
Hastert said he huddled with his staff members last week and he believes they acted appropriately in handling information on Foley's conduct. But he also issued them a stern warning: "If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs."
The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation and the House ethics committee is investigating any potential violations of standards of conduct.
Timeline pushed back Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Kolbe said Tuesday he passed along a complaint about inappropriate e-mails from Foley to Foley's office and the clerk of the House but took no further action when learning of the incident.
A former page sponsored by Kolbe contacted the Arizona Republican's office in 2000 or 2001, well before House leaders say they first learned of inappropriate messages sent by Foley.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
So why do you think Hastert would meet with K.A. Paul?
AMAZING
THE AP GLOSSES OVER the fact that testimony will be under oath for EVERYONE from both parties!
Pelosi if called will either plead the fifth or spill the beans.
The AP has really jumpted the shark for the last 30 days.
Its like watching Hitler in the bunker!
I take it that God has declined to grant Denny's prayer that the coverup scandal would just blow over.
"Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Kolbe said Tuesday he passed along a complaint about inappropriate e-mails from Foley to Foley's office and the clerk of the House but took no further action when learning of the incident.
A former page sponsored by Kolbe contacted the Arizona Republican's office in 2000 or 2001, well before House leaders say they first learned of inappropriate messages sent by Foley."
That's not true, this story was still going on even the night when NK did their nuke test, I heard it still going on at most MSM stations, only Fox looked away from it to cover the NK thing, don't blame Hastert. I also saw several dem strategists say the story is still an issue for the American people, so don't think if Hastert hadn't spoken that this would have nicely gone away, if you think so you are naive.
Former Foley Aide to Testify Thursday
Former Foley aide who says he warned about Foley 3 years ago set to testify Thursday
(AP) Mark Foley's former chief of staff, who says he warned the House speaker's staff three years ago of inappropriate Foley conduct toward male pages, is to testify Thursday before the House ethics committee.
Kirk Fordham will insist that he warned Speaker Dennis Hastert's chief of staff about the conduct in 2003 or possibly the previous year, Fordham lawyer Timothy Heaphy said.
Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona said a former page he had sponsored contacted his office in 2000 or 2001 to complain of e-mails from Foley, the Florida Republican who has resigned. Kolbe said he "passed along" the complaint to Foley and to then-House Clerk Jeff Trandahl.
Trandahl's lawyer, Cono Namorato, said Trandahl "will cooperate fully with the FBI and the House ethics committee investigations."
Trandahl has refused to discuss actions he took when he learned about Foley's approaches and, until now, had declined even to disclose the name of his attorney.
Fordham is a key figure, not only because he's a former top aide to Foley, but because his public statements have been at odds with those of Hastert chief of staff Scott Palmer. Palmer denied Fordham's assertions that he warned Palmer about Foley at least three years ago.
"He'll reaffirm things he said. He sticks by that," Heaphy said.
Meanwhile, Hastert said Tuesday he'll dismiss anyone on his staff found to have covered up concerns about Foley's approaches to former pages.
Hastert said he met with his staff members last week and he believes they acted appropriately in handling information on Foley's conduct. But he also issued a stern warning: "If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs."
The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation, and the House ethics committee is investigating any potential violations of standards of conduct.
Kolbe said in a statement, "Some time after leaving the page program, an individual I had appointed as a page contacted my office to say he had received e-mails from Rep. Foley that made him uncomfortable," Kolbe said in a statement. "I was not shown the content of the messages and was not told they were sexually explicit. It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the clerk who supervised the page program. This was done promptly."
Asked about Kolbe's statement, Hastert told reporters in Aurora, Ill.: "I don't know anything more about it. If there's something that was of a nature that should have been reported or brought forward, then he should have done that."
Hastert said he thought his staff handled the situation fairly well, but "in 20/20 hindsight, probably you could do everything a little bit better."
"But if there is a problem, if there was a cover-up, then we should find that out through the investigation process. They'll be under oath and we'll find out. If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs. But I didn't think anybody at any time in my office did anything wrong."
Hastert confirmed reports from last week that he initially had suggested having former FBI Director Louis Freeh head a Capitol Hill inquiry on the page program but that House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi objected.
In Oklahoma City on Tuesday, a former congressional page who may have received suggestive electronic messages from Foley was interviewed by the FBI.
Ex-congressional page Jordan Edmund and his attorney, Stephen Jones, emerged from the 2 1/2-hour meeting at the U.S. Attorney's office about 12:30 p.m. local time.
"Jordan answered all of their questions," Jones said. "I'm not able to discuss the interview except to say that it occurred."
Jones said his client was not issued a subpoena and was not asked to return. Jones also plans to talk to House officials investigating the case.
Edmund's connection to Foley became public after ABC News inadvertently published the computer screen name of an ex-congressional page who allegedly received online instant messages from the ex-congressman.
The FBI interview was among a host of developments in the unfolding scandal surrounding the 52-year-old Foley's relationship with teenagers, called pages, appointed to run errands for lawmakers while Congress is in session.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are responding to the ethics committee's request that they survey aides and former House pages to find out if any of them had knowledge of inappropriate Foley conduct toward pages.
The developments cloud Republican prospects for retaining the congressional majority.
A CBS News-New York Times poll released Monday found that four in five said GOP leaders were more concerned with politics than with the well-being of the congressional pages. Nearly half of those polled, 46 percent, said Hastert should step down over his handling of the Foley matter, while 26 percent said Hastert should remain in his post.
Foley has acknowledged through his attorney that he is gay but has denied having any sexual contact with minors.
Edmund, a Californian, has been living in Oklahoma City and working as a deputy campaign manager for the gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., who is challenging incumbent Democrat Brad Henry. Edmund was a U.S. House page in 2001 and 2002.
___
Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this story.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/10/ap/politics/mainD8KLVSIO0.shtml
Hastert may have met with or spoken with several religious leaders but K.A. probably decided to publicize their meeting for his own selfish promo. Hopefully he knows the difference between a K.A.Paul and a James Dobson -----
I WANT this story to keep on going until ALL have been put under oath.....especially the KATSAROS family.
I WANT this story to keep on going until ALL have been put under oath.....especially the KATSAROS family.
Why?
How does Kolbe know the complaint was passed along promptly (or at all) if he did not have a personal conversation with Foley and did not follow up with Foley's office and the Clerk of the House?
Here is more from the same AP article found at Worldnetdaily:
Paul is best known as Taylor's spiritual adviser, and he has often passed along messages from former Liberian president Taylor, who is in jail awaiting trial before a war crimes tribunal. Paul also claims to have counseled Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic and Haiti's rebel leader Guy Philippe.
Why Hastert would agree to meet with Paul mystified Dan Busby, an executive of an accrediting group that found problems with one of Paul's charities.
In 2005, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, which has more than 1,200 members, terminated the membership of Paul's Gospel to the Unreached Millions for failing to meet financial accountability and governance standards.
"I find that more shocking than surprising," said Dan Busby, vice president of the accrediting council. "It would mean Dennis Hastert or his people didn't do their homework on the history of this organization."
Hastert spokesman Brad Hahn would not comment on how or why the meeting with Paul was arranged.
"The speaker had a cordial discussion (with Paul), but disagrees with his point of view," Hahn said.
Denny is another fellow who would have benefitted greatly from four years in the Marine Corps. The first the he should do is fire the homosexual clerk in charge of the dormitory where the young men stay. He should be replaced with a retired sergeant major, preferably with experience as a DI at Fort Benning or Parris Island.
The speaker's office has acknowledged that Deputy Chief of Staff Stokke and counsel Van Der Meid fielded a complaint last fall that Foley had been sending provocative e-mails to a former page in Louisiana. And Palmer, Hastert's chief of staff, is facing accusations that he was alerted to Foley's behavior by a senior Foley aide as early as 2003.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-team8oct08,0,4204669.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
Thanks Uncle Chip for the article. At least now I know that I am not the only one puzzled about this meeting.
America does not care about this story.....only political buffs, dems and the media.
and
It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the clerk who supervised the page program. This was done promptly."
Hmmm. So which did Kolbe do.....pass along or recommend to pass along?
"Palmer said he never received any warning about Foley three years ago. And the speaker has maintained that Stokke and Van Der Meid appropriately forwarded the complaint they received to officials who oversaw the page program."
---- This what has been maintained all along. The Times is fishing with no bait, and treating accusations as if they are evidence. Surely all the Democratic operatives that had those IMs and emails showed them to Congressional aides. Why didn't those aides do something. Why didn't they forward them to the officials in charge of the page program.
Reynolds' Democratic foe launches first attack in page scandal
10/10/2006, 6:08 p.m. ET
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
The Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Thomas Reynolds' Democratic challenger released a television ad Tuesday attacking the powerful congressman's handling of the Capitol Hill page scandal.
"Tom Reynolds knew that U.S. Rep. Mark Foley was a predator, going after a 16-year-old boy," a narrator's voice says in the 30-second spot. "What did he do? Tom Reynolds urged Foley to seek re-election."
It is Jack Davis' first public swing at the issue that he believes has bettered his chances of unseating the chairman of the House Republicans' campaign effort.
http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/index.ssf?/base/politics-0/1160518449218150.xml&storylist=simetro
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