Former Foley Aide Expecting to Testify Before House Panel

[habitual]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/washington/08foley.html

By CARL HULSE AND JEFF ZELENY
Published: October 8, 2006

A former senior aide to Mark Foley expects to go before the House ethics committee next week and testify under oath that he alerted the speaker’s office as early as 2003 to inappropriate contact with teenage pages by Mr. Foley, his lawyer said Saturday.

The former aide, Kirk Fordham, will also tell the panel that Scott Palmer, the longtime chief of staff to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, later met with Mr. Foley to talk about his troubling interest in pages, though Mr. Fordham did not attend that meeting, said Timothy J. Heaphy, Mr. Fordham’s lawyer.

*snip*

Mr. Hastert took responsibility last Thursday for the page scandal in an appearance that Republicans hoped would quiet calls for his ouster. He promised to take action if the ethics committee found any staff members had been negligent.

“If it’s members of my staff or they didn’t do the job, we will act appropriately,” Mr. Hastert said. “If it’s somebody else’s staff, they ought to act appropriately as well.”


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Notice how Hastert is totally setting up staff members to take the fall, leaving himself completely innocent. What a slime. But he better be careful, those staffers might not want to be thrown under the bus to save his butt.

[patrick t. cakes]

1. "took responsibility"

hardly. fat pig.

[TomInTib]

2. Well, Denny is certainly close to his "staff"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-odonnell/who-is-scott-palmer_b_31171.html

Who is Scott Palmer?

He is Speaker Hastert's chief of staff, which makes him the key player in the what-did-Hastert-know-and-when-did-he-know-it drama. Scott Palmer has issued a statement flatly denying that Kirk Fordham, Mark Foley's former chief of staff, warned him that Foley was crossing the line with pages long before Foley's inappropriate email surfaced.

Palmer's denial of Fordham's headline-grabbing claim is the thread Hastert's Speakership is now hanging by.

In Hastert's brief, evasive press conference on Thursday, sharp reporters immediately zeroed in on Palmer's role in the Foley information flow. Did Hastert leap to the defense of his chief of staff's honor in the crucial credibility contest with Kirk Fordham? Did he say I know Scott Palmer and I know he's telling the truth? No. He avoided every question with Palmer's name in it. Hastert obviously does not want to talk about Scott Palmer.

If Fordham did warn Palmer about Foley a long time ago, what are the odds that Palmer did not tell Hastert? As close to zero as you can get. Many chiefs of staff are close, very close, to their bosses on Capitol Hill. But none are closer than Scott Palmer is to Denny Hastert. They don't just work together all day, they live together.

And there is more at the site.

[Erika]

3. So, in 2003 the GOP was alerted about Foley being a predator

and the GOP did nothing? First reports show the GOP was notified in 1995 and did nothing.

The classic is that Foley was put in charge of the missing and exploited children by GOP leadership. The GOP is 100% dirty.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Isn't it great how quickly all are acting to investigate Foley, and yet

when Plame was outed, it's taken over three years, and there's really no one getting ripped for it :grr:

[maddezmom]

5. that ought to be interesting

K&R Will we get to hear what he says there before the elections? :shrug:

[habitual]

7. are you kidding me

if you ask me this will certainly be dragged out til after the election, but it might backfire on them. If the dems can scream COVER UP even louder, i think they will sink even lower.

[maddezmom]

8. yes, I was kidding

We won't hear diddly about this until after the elections and even when we do it'll be heavily redacted.

[habitual]

9. i knew you were kidding :)

my comment was meant to be said in agreement, think an italian (heavy accent) r u kiddin me?

[SpiralHawk]

6. This should be broadcast on C-span

Let Americans know the truth -- republicons are perverts and pervert protectors.

for starters...

[Erika]

10. Hastert has lost all dignity

Now maybe he should lose 150 pounds.

[No Exit]

11. Let Lindsay Graham question Mr. Fordham.

I can't wait to hear something like, "Oh, yeah, hey, Senator Graham! How are you? You looked pretty good at (fill in blank with some D.C. gay hangout) last night!"

If only.

No, I have absolutely no information on the sexual orientation (if any) of the drawling jackass, Lindsay Graham. But I imagine that if he WERE gay, gays would be screaming to straights, "Take him! PLEASE take him! We don't want him!"