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.
Istooks 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.
Edmunds 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 Foleys 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.
Ive been retained in the last several hours, Jones said. Im 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 Istooks 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
Somewhat off topic inquiry, but has anysone seen any comments from Mike Pence since the whole Foley mess broke? Seems important, because, if as I expect Hastert will NOT run for another term as Speaker after November, then the campaign is already in full throttle behind the scenes.
I haven't heard anything. Good to see you ken!
His myspace page lists his sexuality as straight.... not that that means anything if he is closeted.
I read on one of the threads that Pence stands with Hastert on this.
LOL! "www.DemocratsHateFags.com"
MSM still quoting stuff this a.m. about what Foley did "to these young boys"...
We've got to make it known that the only explicit exchanges documented so far involve an 18 year old former page... Old enough to be serving in our military in Iraq, certainly no "young boy"...
Yup, since our representatives in the House will be too scared to fight back, it's up to us to do it for them.
And, as you said, this isn't about exhonerating Foley, it's about exposing the MSM's blatant lies in trying to make this case appear much more sinister than it really is, and in trying to take down our House leadership in the process...
If you want on
or off this list
Freepmail me.
Brian Ross on ABC is taking 'credit' for breaking the whole Foley story. This morning he said there were several Pages involved.
Should I write to Barney Frank?
Or should I write to the school systems who force this cr** on our kids.......or to the TV stations who think there should be something "gay" in every show.
That's why how OLD he is is such a big issue. If he was 18, Foley is NO pedophile.
BTTT
"I know I wink at young page-boys but I don't remember writing those things. Geez, maybe I was drunk?"
Foley is a deviant, was living a deviant lifestyle, and his deviancy caught up with him. He "deviated" with the wrong people.
If he (and/or his former Chief of Staff) is/was being blackmailed, it's a perfect example of why deviants should not hold positions of power or have access to national security info.
Isn't that the truth. I'm an Oklahoman, a staunch Republican, and I can't stand Brad Henry. And even I barely know who Istook is. How bad a campaign is that?
Congrats on filling in some pieces. I have been skeptical of these IM message transcripts from the beginning. As presented, they are just too easy to manufacture and/or manipulate. When discussed, the response was "why did Foley resign?" - the only answer was blackmail. Looks like we're moving in that direction.
I've been commenting on various blogs this morning that are reporting these IMs as between an adult and a child and I've pointed out that ABC blatantly lied about these things. I've also posted info at my blog which I will update later as I catch up on this whole situation.
This all needs to be shouted from the hilltops as far as ABC outright lying about ages and such...
It's absolutely disgusting to me that ABC and other media outlets are not correcting this at all. I've written to ABC already this morning - their actions are inexcusable. They are focusing on how all of this is affecting Hastert and how his position is "hanging in the balance". This is horrendous.
This is blatant as far as the media's complicity in trying to negatively affect the Republican party and the upcoming elections now. It makes me sick to my stomach. No one deserves this kind of stuff, and most of all - we the public and citizenry don't deserve to be treated like this either.
I really hope this blows up in their faces because it sure makes me hate the democrat party and their supporters in the media just that much more.
/rant
WHEW... - sorry 'bout that!
Has anyone contacted FOX news? Have they reported on these new findings yet this morning? If anyone takes on this story I think it would most likely be FOX, I can't imagine any other station wanting to retract any of this...
Man....those are some wild specks you be looking thru.......
Interesting perspective on the Foley "scandal." Beware, lots of common sense here:
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5919
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