Foley Aide Disputes Hastert's Account
The Associated Press

October 12, 2006

The House ethics committee Thursday questioned the
one-time chief of staff to ex-Rep. Mark Foley, who challenged
Speaker Dennis Hastert's account of his office's first
notification of Foley's conduct toward male pages.

Kirk Fordham gave crucial testimony behind closed doors as
investigators sought to learn who is telling the truth.
Fordham said he gave the information to Hastert chief of
staff Scott Palmer in 2002 or 2003, but Palmer has disputed
Fordham's account. Hastert's office said his staff was first
told about Foley last fall.

Before Fordham appeared, a Republican member of the
House page board, which oversees the program for
teenagers, said she was never told about Foley.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said after her
questioning, "I'm a member of the page board who was not
informed of the e-mail messages that were sent. I want the
investigation to go forth quickly and reach a conclusion."

Capito's Democratic opponent had earlier accused her of
failing to protect the high schoolers in the page program.

Keeping Capito out of the loop would raise questions about
whether other Republicans tried to tell as few people as
possible about Foley as part of a cover up. She is one of
three members of Congress who serve on the page board.
Rep. Dale Kildee of Michigan, the lone Democrat, also said he
was not told about Foley.

Capito's testimony preceded that of Foley's chief of staff, Kirk
Fordham, who was ready to directly question the
truthfulness of Speaker Dennis Hastert's top aide.

Fordham said he could demonstrate that he warned Hastert
chief of staff Scott Palmer about Foley's approaches to male
pages in 2002 or 2003. Palmer has challenged Fordham's
description of events.

Capito said she knew nothing about the allegations until
Sept. 29, when Foley's conduct became a major Capitol Hill
scandal.

"It disturbs me greatly. I am very upset about it and I think
it is disgusting, quite frankly," Capito said in a West Virginia
debate Wednesday after her opponent accused her of
shirking her responsibility. She has called for more members
on the page board, more training for those members, and
peer counseling for the pages.

According to a timeline released by Hastert, the speaker's
office was informed about an overly friendly e-mail that Foley
sent in the fall of 2005. Subsequently, the clerk of the House
and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., head of the page board, met
with Foley, who assures them he was only acting as a
mentor to the boy. Shimkus ordered Foley to cease contact
with the boy, apparently without notifying Kildee or Capito.

Shimkus will testify Friday.

At a recent news conference, the speaker said that Shimkus
was following the wishes of the parents of the former page
by not telling other page board members about it.

"I think Congressman Shimkus acted in an expedited manner
to find out what happened, again with what the framework
of what the family concern was," Hastert said.

Shimkus also said he did not inform the other board members
because he was following the wishes of the boy's parents.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader John Boehner has been
invited by the ethics panel to testify, but no date has been
set. Boehner has said he informed Hastert about Foley and
was told the matter was being handled. Hastert has said he
doesn't recall the conversation.

Hastert's aides said they first learned of an overly friendly
Foley e-mail to a former page in the fall of 2005 - and never
knew about sexually explicit messages to others until late
last month when they became public.

The FBI also is investigating, trying to determine whether
any crimes were committed by Foley.

While the ethics committee will try to learn who's telling the
truth, the court of public opinion appeared to be moving
against the Republicans, who hold majorities in the House
and Senate. Polls show most Americans say the House
Republican leadership worried more about politics than the
safety of teenage pages.

Several polls also show a split on whether Hastert, R-Ill.,
should step down, with just under half of those surveyed
saying he should. More than half in several polls said
Hastert tried to cover up what he knew about Foley.

Next week, the ethics panel also is to hear from Rep. Rodney
Alexander, R-La., whose testimony also is poised to raise
questions about how GOP leaders handled the Foley
problem. A former page he sponsored from Louisiana
received friendly e-mails from Foley that were not sexually
explicit but raised questions about Foley's motives.

The former page contacted Alexander's office about Foley in
fall 2005. Foley, R-Fla., had asked the boy's age - then 16 -
and his birthday. Foley also requested a photo.

There is no dispute that Alexander's chief of staff, who also
will be questioned, called Hastert's office. This, according to
a report by Hastert, was the initial notification that
something was wrong.

Last spring, Alexander mentioned the Foley situation to
Boehner, R-Ohio. Alexander said Boehner referred him to
Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Republican
campaign organization.

Both Boehner and Reynolds said they spoke with Hastert,
who says he cannot recall those conversations and raised
questions about whether they occurred.

Boehner initially quoted Hastert as telling him the Louisiana
page's complaint "had been taken care of."

Foley resigned Sept. 29 after his sexually explicit instant
messages to former pages became public.