Washington News
Characters involved in the Hastert controversy
By THOMAS HARGROVE
Friday, October 13, 2006
Here is a cast of characters involved in the political struggle over House Speaker Dennis Hastert's leadership since Rep. Mark Foley's resignation last week.
Dennis Hastert _ Speaker of the House who Thursday took responsibility for the failure to contain the House page scandal swirling around Foley.
Page program endangered
By JOHN WILDERMUTH and KIMBERLY GEIGER
Friday, October 13, 2006
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was a congressional page. So were actress Courtney Fine, Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor and Michigan Rep.
FBI wants to question former page
By Amie Parnes
Thursday, October 12, 2006
The FBI is seeking to question a former congressional page who has been identified in Internet reports as one of the teens who exchanged lewd online messages with former Rep.
A new path for Patrick Kennedy
By JOHN F. MULLIGAN
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Five months ago, in the predawn darkness on Capitol Hill, a drug-impaired Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy drove his Mustang convertible into a crackup that just may have been his salvation.
Less than two days after the accident, which injured nobody but sparked damaging news bulletins coast to coast, Kennedy checked himself into a Minnesota hospital for treatment of the drug addiction and alcoholism that have plagued him for most of his life.
It was not Kennedy's first scrape with trouble nor his first attempt at rehab.
House Speaker Sets Up Hotline for Pages Improperly Contacted by Rep. Foley
House Speaker Dennis Hastert has set up a hotline for anyone with information on concerns about the congressional page program in light of then-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., allegedly contacting a number of former pages for electronic messages, meetings, beer and sexually suggestive comments.
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The Office of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert today announced the official Page tip line number. Following is his statement:
"As the Speaker I take responsibility for everything in the building. The buck stops here. The safety and security of the students in the Page program is imperative.
"That is why I directed the Clerk of the House to establish a hotline for reporting any information concerning Pages or the Page program. As of this morning, the Clerk of the House has activated the tip-line. It is for anyone with information regarding the Foley matter. This number can also be used to report any other concerns regarding the Page program.
"The Page program tip line is 866-348-0481."
"The greeting for the tip line is as follows:
'Thank you for calling the tip line for the United States House of Representatives. If you have information regarding former Congressman Mark Foley and his contacts or communications with any current or former House Pages, or any other information or concern about the House Page program, please leave your information at the tone. Please speak slowly and clearly, and please spell out any names to which you refer. You are encouraged, but not required, to leave your name and contact information. You should be aware of any information you provide may be referred to federal and state law enforcement authorities and/or to House investigative authorities. Thank you for your call.'
"All information will be collected and maintained. Information concerning the Foley matter or other similar activities will be shared with the appropriate authorities. Experts and professionals will be consulted who specialize in these kinds of matters for recommendations on the monitoring, handling and response to these calls."
Democrats: Foley scandal highlights GOP arrogance
By MARC SANDALOW
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Democrats are using the House page scandal in dozens, possibly hundreds, of races across the country to make the case that Republican leaders in Washington have grown drunk with power and should be voted out in November.
Rather than focus on the misdoings of former Rep.
FBI wants to question former page
By AMIE PARNES
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON — The FBI is seeking to question a former congressional page who has been identified in Internet reports as one of the teens who exchanged lewd online messages with former Congressman Mark Foley, the former page's lawyer said Wednesday.
Who's behind group that led charge against Foley?
By LISA HOFFMAN
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former House Majority Leader Tom Delay, ex-White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, and now, Mark Foley, the Florida congressman who resigned Friday as a seamy sex scandal broke around him.
What these controversial public figures have in common is that they all have found themselves in the bull's-eye of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, legal advocates leading the charge from the liberal side of the spectrum against government officials who, in their view, do wrong.
Known as CREW, the 13-person non-profit has staked a spot in the front row of the Foley affair from the time it became public last week, when sexually suggestive and explicit Internet conversations between Foley and teenage boys burst forth.
FBI seeks to question former page
By AMIE PARNES
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The FBI is seeking to question a former congressional page who has been identified in Internet reports as one of the teens who exchanged lewd online messages with former Congressman Mark Foley, the former page's lawyer said.
Pelosi: Time to Question GOP Leaders 'Under Oath' about Foley E-mails
You can read below what House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after new developments about which GOP leaders knew what and when over electronic messages allegedly sent by U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., to teenage former congressional pages.
Pelosi's comments came 10/4 after reading claims by Kirk Fordham, a former chief of staff to Foley and recently chief of staff to Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., the House GOP campaign chief. Fordham, who resigned Wednesday, told the Associated Press that he warned House Speaker Dennis Hastert's aides more than three years ago that Foley's behavior toward pages was troublesome.
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Statement from House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-US Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on news reports that Speaker Dennis Hastert's office was told two years ago about former Republican Congressman Mark Foley's repugnant behavior by Kirk Fordham, Congressman Tom Reynolds' former Chief of Staff, who resigned today:
"Mr. Fordham's statement is even more evidence that Republican Leaders chose to put partisan politics above protecting the children in their trust.
"Conflicting stories between Republican leadership and Republican staff about their cover up of Mark Foley's abhorrent behavior underscore the urgency for the Republican leadership to be immediately questioned under oath by the Ethics Committee.
"Today's revelation begs the questions: Why did Speaker Hastert, Congressman Reynolds and other Republican Leaders continue to support Mark Foley after they knew about his horrific behavior? And why did Republican Leaders enlist Mark Foley's support in Republican efforts to stay in power?
"The children, their parents, the public, and our colleagues deserve answers and those who covered up Mark Foley's behavior must be held accountable."
