Posted on 09/30/2006 3:06:00 PM PDT by wjersey
Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republican election effort, said he told Speaker Dennis Hastert after learning a fellow GOP lawmaker sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy.
Reynolds, R-N.Y., was told months ago about e-mails sent by Rep. Mark Foley and is now defending himself from Democratic accusations that he did too little. Foley, R-Fla., resigned Friday after ABC News questioned him about the e-mails to a former congressional page and about sexually suggestive instant messages to other pages. The boy who received the e-mails was 16 in summer 2005 when he worked in Congress as a page. After the boy returned to his Louisiana home, the congressman e-mailed him, and the teenager thought the messages were inappropriate, particularly one in which Foley asked the teen to send a picture of himself.
The teen's family contacted their congressman, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who then discussed it with Reynolds sometime this spring.
"Rodney Alexander brought to my attention the existence of e-mails between Mark Foley and a former page of Mr. Alexander's," Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a written statement Saturday.
"Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didn't want the matter pursued, I told the speaker of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me," Reynolds said.
Reynolds added that Alexander also discussed it with the clerk of the House, and the congressman who oversees the page program, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Shimkus has said he learned about the e-mail exchange in late 2005 and took immediate action to investigate.
Shimkus said Foley told him it was an innocent exchange. Shimkus said he warned Foley not to have any more contact with the teenager and to respect other pages.
Democrats charged Reynolds did far too little and said more digging should be done.
"Congressman Reynolds' inaction in the face of such a serious situation is very troubling, and raises important questions about whether there was an attempt to cover up criminal activity involving a minor to keep it from coming to light before election day," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney.
New York Democrats hoping to unseat Reynolds blasted the congressman, saying they call into question the Republican's values.
"Mr. Reynolds knew about these allegedly inappropriate emails from a fellow congressman to a minor for months and didn't lift a finger," said Blake Zeff, a spokesman for the state Democrats.
My question is: why are some of us buying into the Democrat "spin" on this. The "mistake" that these Republicans made about non-specific allegations that the parents involved "did not want pursued" is that they took the word of a respected colleague that the emails were "innocent". As for Hastert, whether or not his memory lapse was "convenient" if someone told him they had looked into it, and thought they had the problem under control, why would he necessarily concern himself further? What did the Democrat leadership know about Barney Franks and that Studds(sp?) and their peccadillos, and when did they stop knowing it? And why is this an "issue" except that this is an election year?
I will be very surprised if Hastert knew then what we know now about the instant messaging for example and the explicit sexual nature of it.
Hastert last night was denying that he even knew about the situation though. Today Reynolds stated that he informed Hastert. The best light is that Hastert decided not to find out what was going on, and buried his head in the sand. That is the best spin.
Whereas, Republicans, for the most part believe that homosexual behavior is not normal nor is any adult engaging with anyone underage acceptable under any conditions regardless of whether it is "same sex" or "opposite sex."
Beltway mores appear to be unlike the rest of the country.
They're not getting caught exchanging AOL text messages with 16 year old pages.
If anybody saw an email, text message or IM from Foley which mentioned anything near 'what are you wearing?' then they should have immediately pulled him in and told him he needs to resign before they out him themselves. This is a safe GOP district as long as we don't have a queer pedophile (express the possible redundancy) as a candidate. Its incredibly transparent that any delays in dumping this predator were political calculations about keeping the House majority.
I agree with you.
Popcorn!!!!
Pubbies are throwing each other under the bus.
Dems couldn't have planned it any better, had they tried.
Get out of the way -- Pubbies are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, again.
I hate to defend Bill Clinton and Barney Frank here, but they weren't messing with underage kids. This would all be very different if the pages Foley communicated with were 20 years old.
Although there is no proof that Foley actually engaged in sex acts with these boys, Dateline's expose of this type of "grooming" the child shows that the next step would have been physical contact.
You have to know what is meant by "the situation". If he didn't know about the awful stuff that has now been made public, then if he says he didn't know about "the situation" he is telling the truth. What is coming out now is what is so awful it has forced Foley to resign from the House. That is different from what came out at first.
Ok now everybody on the count of three let,s all go after Speaker Dennis Hastert, ready?...One, Two...Three
Not really. They were hoping that this would not come out before the election. They gambled and lost. Now they pay the price.
I'll wait for the rest of the story. Perhaps someone is not telling the truth of who knew what, when, and about who, but we should be slow to judge anything coming out by the MSM during this election year.
Hastert would have been right last year if he said to whoever told him about this, "Show me proof or shut up." However, he would have had to have said in his statement last night that he had heard rumors but they were not substantiated.
I agree.The parents not wanting to pursue it beyond having the emails stopped, suggests everyone thought it was settled.
Two things ~ folks do distrust gay guys when it comes to kids, and folks do make up stories about them.
With the kid's parents not wishing to pursue the matter, sounds like the only thing that counts is what the guy actually said in e-mails and in "instant messaging".
Might be time to set a new standard for Congress ~ that no homosexuals may serve in the House. Keep them away from ALL the pages.
Wouldn't the head of the Republican election effort by necessity have to work closely with the RNC?
I wonder if Kenny plays the fiddle? If so he can play a somber (show)tune whilst the G.O.P. burns.
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