 Mark
Foley
Congress.gov Biography:
"FOLEY, Mark A., a
Representative from Florida; born in Newton, Middlesex County, Mass., September
8, 1954; graduated Lake Worth High School, Lake Worth, Fla.; attended Palm
Beach Community College, Lake Worth, Fla., 1973-1975; business owner; Lake
Worth, Fla., city commissioner, 1977; vice mayor, Lake Worth, Fla., 1983-1984;
member of the Florida state house of representatives, 1990-1992; member
of the Florida state senate, 1993-1995; elected as a Republican to the
One Hundred Fourth and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1995-present)."
|
 Foley
Republican Scandal
MARK FOLEY News:
20070914
-
Mark
Foley -
 Gay
-  Teenage
-  Student
-  Electronic
-  Mail
-  Internet
- Messages
-  Florida
-  Enforcement
-  Politics
- "Foley
Unlikely to Be Prosecuted; Lewd Internet Messages Too Old."
... "Disgraced former [Florida Republican Representative] Congressman Mark
Foley, whose e-mails and instant messages to teenage former congressional
pages shocked the country, may avoid criminal prosecution in Florida because
of the state's three-year statute of limitations." ... "The Florida Department
of Law Enforcement did not start a criminal investigation of Foley until
November 2006, making it nearly impossible to prosecute what some officials
regarded as the best case, an explicit instant message sent by Foley to
a 17-year-old high school student in February 2003, when Foley was in Pensacola,
Fla." ... "Under Florida law, it is a third-degree felony both to use the
Internet "to seduce, solicit, lure or entice" a minor "to commit any illegal
act...relating to lewdness and indecent exposure" and to transmit any "information
or data that is harmful to minors...via electronic mail," which includes
instant messages." -By Vic Walter and Krista Kjellman
-ABCNEWS.com
20070814
-
 J
Dennis Hastert -  DeLay
- Foley
-  Cunningham
-  Ney
-  Legislation
-  History
-  Illinois
-  Texas
-  Ga
-  La
- Florida
-  California
-  Ohio
- "Hastert
Planning to Retire at End of 2008, GOP Sources Say."
... "After less than a year as a rank-and-file House member, former Speaker
[Illinois Republican Representative] J. Dennis Hastert is expected to call
an end to a political career that made him the longest serving Republican
Speaker in the history of the House of Representatives." ... "Hastert,
65, was first elected to Congress in 1986 after GOP [Illinois Republican
Representative] Rep. John E. Grotberg retired. He quietly worked his way
up the ranks in the House, propelled into the Republican leadership in
1994 by then-Rep. [Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay, R-Texas."
... "Hastert ran DeLay’s successful upstart campaign for majority whip
after Republicans captured control of Congress, and DeLay in turn named
Hastert as his chief deputy. Four years later, in 1998, DeLay helped to
elevate Hastert to Speaker after [Georgia Republican Representative] Newt
Gingrich, R-Ga., stepped down following the loss of GOP seats in that year’s
elections and [Louisiana Republican Representative] Robert L. Livingston,
R-La., withdrew abruptly from contention after acknowledging an extramarital
affair." ... "Throughout his time as Speaker, Hastert was personally popular
with rank-and-file Republicans, who never saw him as part of the ethics
problems that plagued DeLay and former [Florida Republican Representative]
Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla. (1995-2006), or the criminal misdeeds of former
[California Republican Representative] Reps. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif.
(1991-2005) and [Ohio Republican Representative] Bob Ney, R-Ohio (1995-2006)."
... "He also set a standard for the GOP majority by only allowing legislation
on the floor of the House that was backed by the “majority of the majority,”
[of Republicans] an approach that all but denied Democrats a chance to
help shape legislation." ... "The minority party had little say in conferences
with the Senate during Hastert’s tenure, because conference committees
became an after-the-fact formality that rubber-stamped deals worked out
by a handful of House and Senate Republican members who operated under
the thumb of party leaders." -By Jonathan Allen with
contributions by Alan K. Ota, Martin Kady II, and David Nathe
-CQPolitics.com
20061102
-
Foley
- Ohio
- Florida
-
 NM
-  NY
- Police
- Election
2006 - "Scandals
Alone Could Cost Republicans Their House Majority."
... "Indictments, investigations and allegations of wrongdoing have helped
put at least 15 Republican House seats in jeopardy, enough to swing control
to the Democrats on Tuesday [2006 Election] even before the larger issues
of war, economic unease and President Bush are invoked." ... "Democrats
have repeatedly hit [Republican] Rep. Deborah Pryce (Ohio), the House Republican
Conference chairman, for inaction on the [Florida Republican Mark] Foley
matter. And Democrats have tried to hold two former members of the Page
Board, [New York Republican] Reps. Sue W. Kelly (N.Y.) and [New Mexico
Republican] Heather A. Wilson (N.M.), accountable for Foley's actions."
... "Meanwhile, new allegations continue to spring up. Vern Buchanan, a
Republican running for the Florida seat vacated by Rep. Katherine Harris
(R), was the target of local media reports this week detailing his use
of business entities in Caribbean tax havens to reduce levies on his auto
dealerships. The Albany Times Union published an article yesterday charging
that the wife of [New York Republican] Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) called
police late last year to report that her husband was "knocking her around"
during a late-night argument." -By Jonathan Weisman
and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -WashingtonPost
20061026
-
Trandahl
-
 Kolbe
- Foley
-  Arizona
- Florida
- "Trandahl
Names Kolbe as a 'Problem' With Page Program, Source Says."
... "A source close to former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl told ABC News that
Arizona [Republican] Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) was one of a small
number of "problem members" of Congress who page program supervisors complained
spent too much time socializing with pages, taking them to dinner or sporting
events outside of official duties." ... "[Florida Republican] Mark Foley
was also on the list." ... "The source said Trandahl frequently cautioned
both congressmen that "adults should hang out with adults, pages should
hang out with pages," a message Trandahl also conveyed to pages during
their orientation." -By Rhonda Schwartz and John Yang
-ABCNEWS.com
20061025
-
Hastert
- Foley
-
 Reynolds
-  Boehner
- Illinois
- Florida
- New
York
- Ohio
- "Hastert
testifies in sex scandal investigation: Presses panel
to move quickly." ... "Speaker J. Dennis Hastert [Illinois Republican]
yesterday became the first leader of the House of Representatives in a
decade to testify before its ethics committee, fielding hours of questions
about what he knew about former [Florida Republican] representative Mark
Foley's inappropriate approaches to teenage pages and when he knew it."
... "At least two Republican leaders -- Representative Thomas M. Reynolds
of New York, who is leading the party's House reelection effort, and House
majority leader John Boehner of Ohio -- have said they told Hastert last
year that they were concerned about Foley's behavior after they learned
about "overly friendly" e-mails that Foley, a Florida Republican, sent
to one former male page." ... "Hastert has said he does not recall those
conversations, but he does not dispute that he may have forgotten them."
-By Maura Reynolds -LAtimes
via -BostonGlobe
20061024
-
Hastert
- Foley
- Fordham
- Palmer
- Kolbe
-
 Alexander
- Boehner
- Reynolds
-  Shimkus
- Trandahl
- Florida
- Illinois
- Arizona
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- New
York
- "House
panel questions Hastert's top aide in Foley case."
... "Kirk Fordham, [Florida Republican Mark] Foley's former chief of staff,
said he alerted [Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert's chief of staff Scott]
Palmer several years ago to his concerns about Foley's friendships with
pages." ... "Palmer has denied Fordham's account." ... "So far, these people
have claimed they warned congressional leaders or their staff about Foley:"
... "• Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona], said he alerted Hastert's
staff in 2000 or 2001." ... "• Fordham said he spoke with the speaker's
office in 2002 or 2003." ... "• Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La. [Republican-Louisiana],
said he alerted the speaker's office last year and spoke to House Majority
Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio [Republican], and Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y.
[Republican-New York], again this spring." ... "• Boehner and Reynolds
said they brought up Alexander's complaints with Hastert. The speaker said
he does not remember the conversation, but does not dispute that it occurred."
... "After Alexander contacted Hastert's office last year about e-mails
that Foley had sent a Louisiana page, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois],
head of the House Page Board, and former House clerk Jeff Trandahl confronted
Foley, who promised to stop." -By Kathy Kiely
-USATODAY
20061018
-
Alexander
- Foley
- Hastert
- Boehner
- Trandahl
- Reynolds
- Lawmakers
- E-Mails
- Child
- Louisiana
- Florida
- Ill
- Ohio
- NY
- "House
Panel Probes Foley Page Scandal: Sponsor Of Louisiana
Page Tells Ethics Panel Others Knew Of E-Mails Before He Did." ... "GOP
Rep. Rodney Alexander [Louisiana Republican] appeared Wednesday morning
and says that after he and his staff learned of the [Florida Republican
Mark Foley] e-mails to the former page, his aides contacted the office
of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.[Republican-Illinois], for advice
on what to do about communications the boy's family thought were inappropriate."
... "His testimony is a small piece of a more confusing puzzle that puts
Hastert and his aides at odds with the accounts of other top GOP lawmakers
and their aides." ... "Two of those figures, Majority Leader [Republican]
John Boehner, R-Ohio, and former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl, are scheduled
to testify Thursday." ... "Boehner has said he discussed the Foley situation
with Hastert last spring after Alexander informed him of the e-mails, as
has Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y. [Republican-New York.]"
-AP via
-CBSNews
-
Jim
Kolbe
- Foley
- Lawmakers
- Teens
- Ariz
- Fla
- "Kolbe
Matter Is Referred to House Ethics Panel: Allegations
Involve Contact With Male Former Pages." ... "The House committee looking
into allegations that former congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla. [Republican-Florida])
had improper contact with male former pages has been asked by lawmakers
overseeing the page program to look into allegations involving a second
lawmaker, House sources said yesterday." ... "Members of the Page Board
sought the review after news reports last week that the Justice Department
had opened a preliminary inquiry into a camping trip that Rep. Jim Kolbe
(R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona]) took with male former pages in 1996. That
report sparked a conference call Monday among board members." ... "It was
not clear what allegations the board was concerned about. But The Washington
Post has learned of a potentially inappropriate incident involving Kolbe
and a male page. The man recently told the House clerk's office and the
FBI about an encounter with the Arizona Republican that occurred about
five years ago when he was 16, according to someone familiar with the man's
account. The page told authorities that he was "uncomfortable with a particular
social encounter" that involved physical contact when he and Kolbe were
alone, the source said yesterday." -By Jonathan Weisman
and James V. Grimaldi -WashingtonPost
20061013
-
 Rove
- Faith
- Politics
-  Book
- Foley
- FL
- "Book:
Bush Aides Called Evangelicals 'Nuts': White House
advisors sought the support of conservative Christians but mocked them
in private, writes a onetime administration official." ... "A new book
by a former White House official says that President Bush's top political
advisors privately ridiculed evangelical supporters as "nuts" and "goofy"
while embracing them in public and using their votes to help win elections."
... "The former official also writes that the White House office of faith-based
initiatives, which Bush promoted as a nonpolitical effort to support religious
social-service organizations, was told to host pre-election events designed
to mobilize religious voters who would most likely favor Republican candidates."
... "The assertions by David Kuo, a top official in the faith-based initiatives
program, have rattled Republican strategists already struggling to persuade
evangelical voters to turn out this fall for the GOP." ... "Some conservatives
lamented Thursday that the book, "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political
Seduction," also comes in the midst of the scandal involving former [Florida
Republican] Rep. Mark Foley, another threat to conservative turnout in
competitive House and Senate races." ... "In the book, Kuo, who quit the
White House in 2003, accuses Karl Rove's political staff of cynically hijacking
the faith-based initiatives idea for electoral gain. It assails Bush for
failing to live up to his promises of boosting the role of religious organizations
in delivering social services." ... "Kuo is not the first insider to accuse
the White House of politicizing the faith-based program. John J. DiIulio
Jr., the first director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives,
resigned after seven months and was quoted as saying that the White House
was run by "Mayberry Machiavellians" who sometimes put politics ahead of
other causes." ... "While many Democrats opposed the initiative as a violation
of church-state separation, the White House used the program to build alliances
with prominent African American ministers, some of whom switched political
allegiances to back Bush. It was part of a larger minority outreach program
designed by Rove and other conservative activists to slice off pieces of
the traditional Democratic coalitions in order to build a lasting GOP majority."
-By Peter Wallsten -LAtimes
20061011
-
Jim
Kolbe
- Arizona
- Gay
- Foley
- Florida
- E-Mails
- "Rep.
Kolbe visited Grand Canyon with pages: Park Service
workers, office staffers accompanied group during 1996 trip." ... "[Arizona
Republican Jim] Kolbe is the only openly gay Republican congressman. He
has been active with the congressional page program for years, and was
himself a page in 1958 for Sen. Barry Goldwater." ... "This week, Kolbe
got dragged into the controversy surrounding disgraced Rep. Mark Foley
(R-Fla. Republican-Florida). In a statement on Tuesday, Kolbe acknowledged
that he had known for years about e-mails from Foley that had made one
former page "uncomfortable."" -By Jim Popkin and Aram
Roston -MSNBC
-
Gay
- Foley
- FL
- Teenage
- E-Mail
-2004
Election - "Page
scandal exposes GOP's gay identity crisis." ... "At
a State Department ceremony this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
warmly acknowledged the family members of Mark Dybul, whom she was swearing
in as the nation's new global AIDS coordinator." ... "As first lady Laura
Bush looked on, Rice singled out his partner, Jason Claire, and Claire's
mother. Rice referred to her as Dybul's "mother-in-law."" ... "The celebratory
moment for a gay couple was emblematic of the political identity crisis
facing the Republican Party, two years after an election the GOP won in
part by making gay marriage an issue and less than two weeks after revelations
about a Republican House member's advances toward teenage boys." ... "For
Republicans, the most difficult problem posed by the e-mail exchanges that
former [Florida Republican] congressman Mark Foley had with pages is not
necessarily the flagrant misbehavior of one member. Rather it's the fact
that the investigation is exposing a politically awkward fact of life:
some GOP leaders practice a more tolerant brand of politics in their office
hiring than some in the party have preached on the campaign trail." ...
"The revelations have disturbed some conservative activists, who believe
that Republicans owe their victories in the 2004 elections to the thousands
of "values voters" who trooped to the polls to vote for anti-gay-marriage
measures on the ballots of 11 swing states." -By Kathy
Kiely -USATODAY
20061010
-
Jim
Kolbe
- Arizona
- Foley
- Florida
- "Ex-Page
Aired Concerns About Foley to Congressman in 2000."
... "A former Congressional page approached Representative Jim Kolbe, Republican
of Arizona, as long as six years ago to report feeling uncomfortable by
messages sent from [Florida Republican] Representative Mark Foley, but
a spokeswoman for Mr. Kolbe said Monday that it was unclear if Mr. Kolbe
had forwarded the complaint to House leaders." ... "Mr. Kolbe, a former
member of the board that oversees the House page program, remembers talking
to a page with concerns about Mr. Foley's conduct, said Korenna Cline,
Mr. Kolbe s press secretary. But Mr. Kolbe could not remember whether he
confronted Mr. Foley directly, Ms. Cline said, or delegated the matter
to his staff." ... "Mr. Kolbe, who briefly served as the acting chairman
of the page board, often talked about his admiration for the program, once
declaring on the House floor that he had a “special relationship with the
page program.”" -By Jeff Zeleny and David D. Kirkpatrick
-NYTimes
-
Foley
- Hastert
- Reynolds
- Kirk
Fordham
- Scott
Palmer
- Florida
- Illinois- New
York
- "Foley's
Reputed Visit to the Page Dormitory: New Testimony
May Pose Problems for GOP Leadership." ... "House speaker Dennis Hastert,
R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois], tries to change the subject. But the accusations
about Hastert subordinates who were apparently told about Congressman Mark
Foley's questionable behavior keep coming." ... "Meanwhile, ABC News has
learned that one former staffer who worked for the GOP leadership will
tell the House Ethics Committee Thursday about an incident several years
ago in which he was alerted that an apparently inebriated Foley [Republican-Florida]
had tried to gain access to the pages' dormitory." ... "A source with firsthand
knowledge of events says that this coming Thursday, Kirk Fordham — former
chief of staff to both Foley and more recently Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y.
[Republican-New York] — will testify that a few years ago he was told by
then-House clerk Jeff Trandahl that Foley had been stopped while trying
to enter the pages' dorm in an apparently intoxicated state. The source
said Fordham will testify that he recalls this being the event that convinced
both him and Trandahl to warn Hastert's office, with Fordham designated
to have the conversation with Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer. The
source said that both aides had been watching Foley's behavior with pages
and that Fordham had counseled Foley to watch his behavior." ... "The source
tells ABC News that Fordham will testify that he alerted Palmer that Foley
had a pattern of displaying inappropriate behavior toward pages. Asked
about Fordham's claim that he met with Palmer in approximately 2003 to
warn him about Foley's behavior, Palmer said in a statement, "What Kirk
Fordham said did not happen."" ... "Last month, before the Foley scandal
broke, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla. [Republican-Florida], also learned
about the dormitory incident, which she said she was told about from firsthand
sources." (1, 2,
3)
-ABCNEWS.com
20061009
-
Foley
- Hastert
- Shimkus
- Alexander
- Fla
- Ill
- La
- Ariz
- Gay
- Lawmaker
- Internet
- E-Mail
- Communication
- Messages
- "Lawmaker
Saw Foley Messages In 2000: Page Notified GOP Rep.
Kolbe." ... "A Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative
Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally
confronted Foley about his communications." ... "A spokeswoman for Rep.
Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona]) confirmed yesterday that a former
page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel
uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla. [Republican-Florida]) was
taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted,
a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter
to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna
Cline." ... "The revelation pushes back by at least five years the date
when a member of Congress has acknowledged learning of Foley's behavior
with former pages. A timeline issued by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert
(R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois]) suggested that the first lawmakers to know,
Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois]), the chairman of the
House Page Board, and Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La. [Republican-Louisiana]),
became aware of "over-friendly" e-mails only last fall. It also expands
the universe of players in the drama beyond members, either in leadership
or on the page board." ... "A source with direct knowledge of Kolbe's involvement
said the messages shared with Kolbe were sexually explicit, and he read
the contents to The Washington Post under the condition that they not be
reprinted." ... "Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican in Congress, is
retiring at the end of the year." -By Jonathan Weisman
with contributions by James V. Grimaldi -WashingtonPost
20061007
-
Hastert
- Foley
- Shimkus
- Boehner
- Reynolds
- Ill
- Fla
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- NY
- "Staffer
Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office: Confrontation
With [Florida Republican] Foley Detailed." ... "House Speaker [Illinois
Republican] J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark
Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before
the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional
staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages
said yesterday." ... "The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott
Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints
about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long
before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus
(R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois]) and the clerk of the House in November 2005
to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy."
... "The staff member's account buttresses the position of Foley's onetime
chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, who said earlier this week that he had appealed
to Palmer in 2003 or earlier to intervene, after Fordham's own efforts
to stop Foley's behavior had failed. Fordham said Foley and Palmer, one
of the most powerful figures in the House of Representatives, met within
days to discuss the allegations." ... "Hastert maintains that he knew nothing
of Foley's actions until last week, when the story first broke and Foley
resigned. His stance contradicts that of House Majority Leader John A.
Boehner (R-Ohio) and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman
Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), both of whom said they had informed Hastert
this spring." ... "Palmer, who shares a townhouse with Hastert when they
are in town, is more powerful than all but a few House members. Members
know that he speaks for Hastert." (1, 2)
-By Jonathan Weisman with contributions by Jim VandeHei,
Charles Babington, Dan Eggen, and Allan Lengel -WashingtonPost
20061006
-
Foley
- E-Mail
- Politics
- Fla
- "Watchdog
Group Disputes FBI's Claims on E-Mails." ... "The
watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from
then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla. [Republican-Florida]) said yesterday that
FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction
in the case by making false claims about the group." ... "Law enforcement
officials said the allegations by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics
in Washington (CREW) are without merit, and they stood by allegations that
the group had refused to provide some information to the FBI." ... "CREW
held a news conference Monday to announce that in July it had provided
the FBI suspicious e-mails between Foley and a former House page. The group
criticized the bureau for not taking more aggressive action and asked Justice
Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine to investigate the FBI's handling
of the case." -By Dan Eggen
-WashingtonPost
20061005
-
Foley
- Teens
- Messages
- Florida
- "Ex-Page
Says He Got Messages From Foley." ... "A former congressional
page said Thursday he received sexually suggestive messages from then-Rep.
Mark Foley [Republican Florida] in 1997." ... "Tyson Vivyan's account appears
to show the earliest exchange of suggestive messages reported so far between
Foley and teens who had served in the Capitol page program. Previous accounts
placed the earliest contacts in 2003." ... "Vivyan, 26, told The Associated
Press that Foley began sending him instant messages about a month or two
after his nine-month stint as a page ended in June 1997." -By
Greg Bluestein -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
Foley
- Internet
- Communications
- E-Mail
- Messages
- Florida
- "Three
More Former Pages Accuse Foley of Online Sexual Approaches."
... "Three more former congressional pages have come forward to reveal
what they call "sexual approaches" over the Internet from former [Florida
Republican] Congressman Mark Foley." ... "The pages served in the classes
of 1998, 2000 and 2002. They independently approached ABC News after the
Foley resignation through the Brian
Ross & the Investigative Team's tip line on ABCNews.com. None
wanted their names used because of the sensitive nature of the communications."
... "All three pages described similar instant message and e-mail patterns,
with remarkably similar escalations of provocative questions." ... ""This
was no prank," said one of the three former pages who talked to ABC News
today about his experience with the congressman." -By
Brian Ross, Rhonda Schwartz, and Maddy Sauer
-ABCNEWS.com
-
Hastert
- Foley
- E-Mails
- Messages
- Teenage
- Election
2006 -
 Mil
- Illinois
- Florida
- "Under
Siege in D.C., Hastert Is at Least Safe at Home."
... "After maintaining a rather low personal profile for most of his tenure
as House Speaker, 10-term Illinois Republican Rep. J. Dennis Hastert is
getting a dose of unwanted publicity, stemming from his handling of the
scandal involving resigned Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley’s inappropriate
e-mails and instant messages to teenage male pages. The furor has put Hastert’s
continued service as Speaker at serious jeopardy." ... "But — at least
at this juncture, more than four weeks out from Election Day [2006] — Hastert’s
continued hold on his seat in Illinois’ Republican-leaning 14th District
appears far less at risk. CQPolitics.com, though carefully watching developments,
is holding its rating on the race at Safe Republican." ... "That does not
mean the Foley scandal is not of some potential benefit to Hastert’s longshot
Democratic challenger, 32-year-old U.S. Navy veteran John Laesch. It has
drawn the kind of attention to him and his bid to be a political “giant-killer”
that the underfunded candidate certainly hasn’t been able to buy." ...
"As of June 30, Laesch had raised a minuscule total of just more than $91,000
to Hastert’s roughly $3.6 million." ... "Laesch said he was motivated to
enter the race because of his views against the war in Iraq. His brother,
a sergeant in the U.S. Army, is currently serving in Baghdad."
-CQ.com via -NYTimes
20061004
-
Shimkus
- Foley
- Hastert
- Teen
- E-Mail
- Photograph
-
 Media
- Illinois
- Florida
- Lawmakers
- "Defiant
Shimkus says he'll keep post." ... "[Illinois Republican]
Rep. John Shimkus mounted an intense media offensive Wednesday, saying
he has no intention of resigning from the House Page Board and angrily
lashing out at the press and Democrats who have questioned him about his
role investigating [Florida Republican] ex-Rep. Mark Foley's contact with
former House pages." ... "Shimkus said he had no knowledge of and no comment
on new reports that Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, told House
Speaker [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert's office three years ago that
Foley had improper contact with House pages." ... "Shimkus, R-Collinsville,
serves as head of the board that oversees the page program, and he has
said he confronted Foley last year about a set of e-mails that Foley, R-Fla.,
sent to a former page. In a telephone interview Wednesday with the Post-Dispatch
from his Collinsville office, he maintained his actions were sufficient."
... "The news that Fordham may have alerted the GOP leadership to Foley's
conduct more than three years ago raised new questions about both Hastert's
and Shimkus' role in the scandal. On Wednesday, Hastert's chief of staff
said he had no such warning from Fordham." ... "And the two Illinois lawmakers
said that they only knew about one set of e-mail messages, in which Foley
asked a former page how he was doing, what he wanted for his birthday,
and for a photograph of the teen." -By Deirdre Shesgreen
-SLTrib.com
-
Hastert
- Reynolds
- Foley
- Computer
- Messages
- Teenage
- Lawmaker
- Law
Enforcement - 2006
Election - Illinois
- New
York - Florida
- "Aide
says he told Hastert's office about Foley's conduct more than 3 years ago."
... "House Speaker [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert's political support
showed signs of cracking on Wednesday as Republicans fled an election-year
[2006] scandal spawned by steamy computer messages from former Rep. Mark
Foley to teenage male pages." ... "At the same time, Foley's former chief
of staff said in an Associated Press interview that he first warned Hastert's
aides more than three years ago that Foley's behavior toward pages was
troublesome. That was long before GOP leaders acknowledged learning of
the problem." ... "Kirk Fordham, who was Foley's top aide until January
2004, said he had "more than one conversation with senior staff at the
highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene"
several years ago." ... "Fordham resigned Wednesday as staff chief for
another lawmaker caught up in the scandal, New York [Republican] Rep. Thomas
Reynolds, the House GOP campaign chief who says he alerted Hastert to concerns
about Foley last spring." ... "The Justice Department ordered House officials
to "preserve all records" related to Foley's electronic correspondence
with teenagers, and one law enforcement official said FBI agents have begun
interviewing participants in the House page program." -By
Devlin Barrett with contributions by Andrew Taylor, Lara Jakes Jordan,
David Hammer, Laurie Kellman, Bruce Schreiner, and Marus Kabel
-AP via -STLtoday.com
-
Hastert
- Foley
- Alexander
- Teenage
- E-Mail
- Messages
- 2006
Election - Illinois
- Florida
- Louisiana
- "[Illinois
Republican] Hastert clings to power as scandal swirls:
Top Republicans question speaker's inaction on [Florida Republican] Foley
sex messages." ... "House Speaker Dennis Hastert [Illinois Republican]
was fighting for his political life Wednesday after new disclosures surfaced
that his office knew that a Republican House member was sending sexually
provocative messages to underage congressional pages as long as three years
ago." ... "Pressure on Hastert has built since it was reported that an
aide to Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La. [Republican-Louisiana], complained
last year to Hastert's office about an "overly friendly" e-mail message
that Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., had sent to a teenage male page sponsored
by Alexander. Alexander said he did not ask for any specific action at
the request of the boy's parents." ... "The scandal has reinvigorated the
campaign of Hastert’s Democratic challenger in the November [2006] election,
John Laesch, who said Hastert was “absolutely” guilty of a cover-up Wednesday."
... "Asked whether he believed Hastert was a man of integrity, Laesch told
MSNBC-TV’s Chris Matthews: “I think that this issue has defined the clearest
difference between myself and Mr. Hastert, that being I stand for honesty
and integrity, and I’ll let the voters decide where he stands.”" ... "The
scandal has energized his supporters, said Laesch, 32, a former naval intelligence
officer. “Our phone has been ringing off the hook, and this is they only
thing people want to talk about.”" (1, 2)
-Contributed to by Alex Johnson, Chris Matthews, and
Joe Scarborough -AP
-MSNBC
-
Hastert- Foley
- Reynolds
- Children
- Illinois
- Florida
- New
York
- "Hastert
Was Warned About Foley Two Years Ago, GOP Aide Says."
... "Despite claims by senior [Republican] congressional aide Kirk Fordham
that he notified House Speaker [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert's office
more than two years ago about possible inappropriate contact between former
[Florida Republican] Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and underage congressional
pages, the Speaker's office insists it did nothing wrong in the way it
handled the investigation." ... ""That never happened," Hastert spokesman
Ron Bonjean told ABC News." ... "But Fordham, who resigned as Foley's chief
of staff to work for another member of the GOP leadership, Rep. Tom Reynolds,
R-N.Y. [Republican-New York], said that as far back as 2003, Hastert's
chief of staff, Scott Palmer, had been told that Foley was too friendly
with pages. According to Fordham, Palmer spoke to Foley about the matter."
(1, 2) -By
Jake Tapper and John Yang -ABCNEWS.com
20061002
-
Foley
- Hastert
- Cunningham
- DeLay
- Ney
- Children
- Lawmakers
- Politics
- 2006
Election - Florida
- Illinois
- California
- Texas
- Ohio
- "FBI
looks at [Florida Republican] Foley's e-mails to teens."
... "[Illinois Republican] House Speaker Dennis Hastert asked the Justice
Department on Sunday to investigate former [Florida Republican] congressman
Mark Foley's communications with teenage boys who worked as House pages."
... "Hastert has said he knew about non-sexual e-mails that Foley, 52,
a Florida Republican, sent to a 16-year-old former page, first reported
by ABC News on Thursday." ... "Foley is the fourth House Republican forced
out by ethics problems. [Republican] Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California
resigned in November after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in
bribes. Former majority leader [Republican] Tom DeLay of Texas was indicted
on state campaign finance violations and resigned in June. [Republican]
Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has agreed to plead guilty to charges of corruption
and is not seeking re-election [in 2006]." ... "House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi [from California] called on the House ethics committee Sunday
to question GOP leaders under oath. "They chose to cover it up rather than
to protect these children," she said." -By Richard
Wolf and Kevin Johnson with contributions by Kathy Kiely, Jill Lawrence,
Matt Kelley, and Wendy Koc -USATODAY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
Mark Foley News Sources:
Search Mark Foley News:
News
Search
|
