ShareThisBy MARA LEE
Friday, November 10, 2006
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., head of the board overseeing House pages, testified about "who knew what, when and where" for more than three hours Friday before the House ethics subcommittee investigating the page scandal.
Then-Rep. Mark Foley, who resigned his Florida seat after sexually explicit Internet messages he sent to two teens came to light, was confronted by Shimkus last year after the parents of a Louisiana teen complained about overly familiar, but not sexual, messages to their son.
Shimkus said he had never heard about any other rumors about Foley's behavior with pages. Since the scandal broke, a number of pages who served as long ago as 1998 have said the Republican expressed sexual interest in them. No one has come forward to say he had sex with Foley when he was younger than 18.
"There's a lot of rumors out there," Shimkus said. "I think that's the reason we have this investigation."
Shimkus said it was his decision to handle the Louisiana complaint without telling the other members of the page board. Critics have said that it was a cover-up because the other members, including one Democrat, weren't consulted.
In hindsight, Shimkus said, "I think there's stuff everybody would've done differently."
He went on to say, "The family asked us to intervene. I'm the chairman of the page board. The family wanted it handled in confidence. I complied with their wishes."
Shimkus said the meeting lasted no longer than 45 minutes. He cut the interview short when asked to talk about Foley's responses.
He said he has not spoken with the FBI thus far, but added, "I expect to."
Shimkus defended the page program, saying, "The kids are very safe."
Shimkus also said that he thought his warning might have been successful. The more explicit messages now being reported in the press were from earlier years.
The Illinois lawmaker noted that this year, when House members said "bye-bye to the pages," Foley skipped the speeches.
"Congressman Foley did not show this year. Historically, he did."
Shimkus said he doesn't expect the scandal to tarnish his reputation in his home district. His assertion is supported by a poll released this week that showed him leading his opponent by 17 percentage points.
"I think my folks believe me; they trust in me," he said. "This is when living a halfway decent life might matter."
(Contact Mara Lee at leem(at)shns.com.)
