Posted on 05/07/2008 8:12:48 PM PDT by neverdem
When cops stopped Rep. Vito Fossella for drunken driving, the married congressman said he was rushing to see his sick daughter on nearby Grimm St. - the home of the mystery woman who later plucked him from jail.
Fossella's spokeswoman has insisted the single mom, Air Force Col. Laura Fay, 45, was only a "good friend," but the Staten Island Republican implied to suburban D.C. cops that Fay's 3-year-old was his.
"The subject stated that he was driving down from Washington, D.C., to Grimm St. because his daughter was sick and needed to go to the hospital," a police report obtained by the Daily News reveals.
The report describes how Fossella, who has a wife and three children in New York, failed a sobriety test by reciting the alphabet wrong, swaying while standing on one leg and stumbling while trying to walk a straight line.
"When I looked at his lips, I noticed they were stained red," the Alexandria, Va., cop wrote. "He stated that he had about two or three glasses of wine. ..."
Cops said Fossella had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Seven hours after his arrest, Fossella was released to Fay, who lives 3 miles from thespot where cops stopped him for running a red light.
Susan Del Percio, a crisis management consultant hired after the arrest, refused to answer "yes" or "no" when asked if Fossella fathered Fay's daughter.
"This is a demeaning and highly inappropriate question," she said yesterday. She gave the same answer when asked the question the previous day.
Asked if Fossella was driving to Fay's house, she said, "We will not discuss the particulars of the legal case." She has said Fossella met Fay while she was working as a legislative liaison for the Air Force.
Unless there's a plea deal, the congressman will have to serve a mandatory five days in jail.
He was back on the job yesterday, attending a morning hearing and appearing on the House floor for a series of procedural votes in the afternoon. The disgraced lawmaker walked sheepishly into the chamber, his hands jammed into the pockets of his charcoal-colored suit.
Over the course of about 45 minutes he spent on the floor, Fossella was greeted with handshakes and hugs from a half-dozen GOP lawmakers.
Fossella was part of a congressional delegation that went on a European junket in the summer of2003, records show. Fay was the chief military chaperon for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a source on the trip said. In October 2003, Fay was reassigned from Air Force Legislative Liaison to an intelligence desk job at the Pentagon, the Air Force told The News.
Fay split with then-husband Guy Shoaf the day after Christmas in 2003, about five months after the trip. It was her second divorce. They had no children. She retired from the military in September 2006. Before his drunken night, the representative attended a ceremony for the Irish prime minister and an event for the Super Bowl-winning Giants.
Fossella arrived at the Logan Tavern after 10 p.m. with a friend named Brian, witnesses who were at the bar said.
The congressman and his pal were asked to leave the bar after Brian fell down and smashed a table.
Fossella rents a condo owned by his uncle, Frank Fossella, in a tony building that rises above the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, Del Percio said.
Fossella's wife, Mary Pat, sat quietly at the Staten Island news conference where Fossella apologized for his arrest on Friday. She declined to comment. A source familiar with the family said the wife did not know her husband had a car in Washington and was shocked by news of his arrest. "I think she's more angry than sad ...," the source said.
A man who arrived at Fay's home to water her plants yesterday said she was in Coral Gables, Fla. Fay's sister Linda lives in a small town in Washington State. Her husband, Tom Himmelberger, said his wife was out shopping. "Her comment would be no comment," he said.
Steve Labernik, Fay's brother, refused to talk about her at his Spencer, Iowa, home. "I haven't heard from her lately," he said. With Celeste Katz,
Matthew Lysiak, Richard Sisk and Thomas DeFrank
tmoore@nydailynews.com
Great, just what conservatives need right now :-( What a maroon.
Of course, had he been a DemoRat from mASSachusetts, he’d be rewarded with a Senate seat which he’d hang on to for life (especially if he had killed somebody). That’s not going to wash with a NY pubbie, nor should it. I just hope someone with similar political views steps up to replace him (are there any left around here???).
"This is a demeaning and highly inappropriate question," she said yesterday.
That's Democrat-speak for "yes". ;)
Sure you don't mean MORON? I got behind the wheel drunk once in my life. I was eightteen and indeed a moron, but not dumb enough to fail to learn from my mistake. Realizing my control of the vehicle was not what it should have been, I never attempted that again.
Fossella is certainly old enough to know better, and a lawmaker at that. Even if EVERY non-Mormon on Earth was engaging in an activity well known to be both illegal and dangerous, that still wouldn't excuse it.
Indeedy! I was just wondering myself who hired this "consultant." Are her responses somehow meant as damage control??
What will this do to her military career? Isn’t adultery frowned upon in the UCMJ?
Did I say “DRUNK”?? No.....I said DRINK....could be ONE drink...and almost everyone has driven after one drink unless they are tea-totallers.
Speak for yourself. I have never driven after even a single drink.
Unfortunately these are not Democrats.
.17? That's probably about 10 beers. I've been borderline a couple of times, but when I have even half that many drinks, I walk, call a cab, get a ride, crash at a friends, but I don't drive and risk people's lives, a DUI, getting fired, jail, fines, legal fees, disbarrment, and an all around bad time. I never drive after than many, and I'm Irish! I can also gaurantee you that this will not play well in Staten Island with all the cops who live there.
Did NY have their primaries yet?
A blood alcohol level of .17 suggests more than just one drink.
"She retired from the military in September 2006."
Seems to be a moot point now, but the UCMJ had provisions for adultery, IIRC.
Great, another seat probably down the tubes.
The seat is lost.
GEESH....I wasn’t talking about VITO....I was Generalizing .
My apologies; I assumed your post was relevant to the subject of the thread.
Take a deep breath and count to ten.
Word on the block is that Alfonse D’Amato has approached Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan about running. Donovan considered running for AG in 2006, but deferred to Jeanine Pirro.
Also thinking of running are state Senator Andrew Lanza and New York City Councilman Vincent Ignizio.
Larry Craig is still hanging on. Who knows?
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