[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
Sloth wrote:
Yes, everyone agrees Foley is a creep. What exactly was Hastert told?
From the correct link, sorry:
[i]Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-New York, issued the apology in a TV commercial aired in his Buffalo-area district.
He also reiterated his assertion that he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, about Foley’s behavior in the spring.
“I trusted that others had investigated. Looking back, more should have been done, and for that, I’m sorry,” Reynolds said.
“I was told about odd but not explicit e-mails between Mark Foley and a page,” he said. "I never saw a single e-mail, not one. Even so, I reported what I had been told to the speaker of the House.
“At the time, I thought I had done the right thing. I have since learned that newspapers in Florida and the FBI had copies of the e-mails for months and that Foley had been confronted about them and lied,” Reynolds said.
“Nobody’s angrier and more disappointed than me that I didn’t catch his lies,” he said.
The scandal appears to be damaging Reynolds’ re-election bid. Polls conducted since Foley’s resignation show Democratic challenger Jack Davis with a narrow lead over Reynolds. [/i]
Also:
[i]Reynolds said he told Hastert about the e-mails because he thought it was appropriate to inform his “supervisor” about allegations of possible sexual misconduct.
Hastert has said he does not recall the conversation, but he didn’t dispute that it took place. House leaders have said they learned of the e-mails in late 2005.
Kirk Fordham resigned as Reynolds’ chief of staff Wednesday amid allegations that he sought to protect Foley from a congressional inquiry. The FBI interviewed Fordham on Thursday.
Fordham, who also has served as Foley’s chief of staff, denied the claim and said he was merely reaching out to the congressman, “as any good friend would.”
Fordham later said that before 2005 he told Hastert’s chief of staff, Scott Palmer, about concerns over Foley’s conduct. However, in a one-sentence, written statement Palmer said, “What Kirk Fordham said did not happen.”[/i]
This is what I meant by “washing their hands”.
[/quote]
Is this all about the E-mails again? The ones that the Page’s parents complained about? I’m sorry, but I can’t blame Hastert for not acting on the E-mails that he’s discussed. They’re too ambigious, and I can see how it would be unclear if Foley was trying to be a friendly mentor, or something else.
Now did Hastert learn something else? Maybe earlier? Sorry, I’m going to have to hear the results of the investigations. I have no reservations in calling for him to resign, if he had clear knowledge, of Foley send explicit and sexual communications to pages.
As far as who actually knew what, and when? Too many contradictions, I’ll let the investigations sort that out. In the meantime, I’m not going to hang Foley’s indiscretions around Hastert’s neck till I know for sure.
