Icepicks and Nukes

The Washington Post has a bombshell on another Republican congressman who knew about Foley, as far back as 2000.

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.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) 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.) suggested that the first lawmakers to know, Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), the chairman of the House Page Board, and Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), 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. But Cline denied the source’s characterization, saying only that the messages had made the former page feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she said, “corrective action” was taken. Cline said she has not yet determined whether that action went beyond Kolbe’s confrontation with Foley.

It’s a good thing for Kolbe he was already planning to retire from Congress, otherwise I’d say he would be guaranteed to lose his seat once voters found out he knew about Foley six years ago.

A few days ago, I wrote about how Kirk Fordham, sensing he was being made the fall guy by House Republicans for the Mark Foley scandal, dropped a massive bombshell on Dennis Hastert’s office.

Despite claims by senior congressional aide Kirk Fordham that he notified House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office more than two years ago about possible inappropriate contact between former 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., 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.

Neither Foley nor Palmer could be reached for comment, yet Hastert’s office disputes the account.

Here’s the reaction of Scott Palmer, Hastert’s chief of staff:

“What Kirk Fordham said did not happen.”

Palmer might want to revise that statement and get a good lawyer, if the story in today’s Washington Post is correct.

House Speaker 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.) 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.

Palmer said this week that the meeting Fordham described “did not happen.” Timothy J. Heaphy, Fordham’s attorney, said yesterday that Fordham is prepared to testify under oath that he had arranged the meeting and that both Foley and Palmer told him the meeting had taken place. Fordham spent more than three hours with the FBI on Thursday, and Heaphy said that on Friday he contacted the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to offer his client’s cooperation.

“We are not preparing to cooperate. We are affirmatively seeking to,” Heaphy said.

Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean declined to directly comment on the second House staff member’s assertion, saying that it is a matter for a House ethics committee investigation. “The Standards Committee has asked that no one discuss this matter because of its ongoing investigation,” Bonjean said.

Palmer might also want to think about updating his resume and cleaning out his desk.

One of the few comical aspects of the Foley scandal [beyond the endless fodder for the late night comedians] is watching Republicans try to somehow blame the whole thing on Democrats, their allies or associates because of the proximity of the leak to the November congressional elections. Dennis Hastert in a phone interview with the Chicago Tribune published yesterday:

When asked about a groundswell of discontent among the GOP’s conservative base over his handling of the issue, Hastert said in the phone interview: “I think the base has to realize after a while, who knew about it? Who knew what, when? When the base finds out who’s feeding this monster, they’re not going to be happy. The people who want to see this thing blow up are ABC News and a lot of Democratic operatives, people funded by [liberal activist] George Soros.”

He went on to suggest that operatives aligned with former President Bill Clinton knew about the allegations and were perhaps behind the disclosures in the closing weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections, but he offered no hard proof.

“All I know is what I hear and what I see,” the speaker said. “I saw Bill Clinton’s adviser, Richard Morris, was saying these guys knew about this all along. If somebody had this info, when they had it, we could have dealt with it then.”

Even Republicans are starting to get weary of Hastert’s conspiracy theory. From the Chicago Tribune:

Comments that Hastert made in a Tribune interview suggesting the scandal had been orchestrated by ABC News, Democratic political operatives aligned with the Clinton White House and liberal activist George Soros were considered a serious misstep in national Republican circles, an official said. Senior Republican officials contacted Hastert’s office before his news conference Thursday to urge that he not repeat the charges, and he backed away from them in his news conference.

“The Chicago Tribune interview last night–the George Soros defense–was viewed as incredibly inept,” a national Republican official said. “It could have been written by [comedian] Jon Stewart.”

Hastert, a former high school teacher and wrestling coach, really should re-read Shakespeare. In particular, he should heed the Bard’s wisdom in this famous scene

“Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” – Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II

The idea that this scandal was the plot of Democratic operatives and financers with ABC News as their enabler is absolutely laughable on its face. ABC even admitted that their sources were Republican congressional staffers and former pages, not Democratic operatives. Even Hastert’s office admitted they had no evidence to back the assertions. CNN last night:

ZAHN: So, Dana, let’s talk about Speaker Hastert’s allegation, that, in some way, Democratic operatives and ABC News are behind the dumping of the documents, even going so far to say that Bill Clinton had something to do with this. Is there any proof of that?

BASH: No, there isn’t any proof of that.

And the — the speaker’s office is saying that they — they haven’t been able to back that up. He also went after George Soros as well. George Soros, in the last campaign, did a lot of funding for Democratic causes and campaigns.

Essentially, what he is trying to do, and what he did today, Paula, as you mentioned, is take it to a whole ‘nother level, is throw red meat to the Republican base. He even said today, point blank, that, when the base finds out who’s feeding this monster, they’re not going to be happy.

So, he’s trying to — to — to say: Look, don’t be mad at me. You know, it — it’s not necessarily us. It’s the — the Democrats who are trying to raise this at this time, in order to — to hurt us in the election.

Having said that, I talked to several Republicans today, who said that might be a good argument, but it shouldn’t be coming from the speaker himself. That really is not necessarily going to play well, especially with some conservatives, who say: Look, the bottom line is, you didn’t do enough to — to protect young boys, essentially, on Capitol Hill.

ZAHN: Sure.

BASH: And that’s what matters here.

Hastert is not the only congressional Republican or political ally to speculate about a Democratic conspiracy, but given his role in the scandal as the head of the House GOP caucus and that his leadership position is in very real and potentially irreversible political danger, he and his staff should think of words and actions that can contain or minimize the effects of the scandal on his party, not give ammunition to the late night comedians.

In the end, Hastert’s conspiracy theory talk is unwittingly reinforcing what Democrats have been arguing for years about Republican-controlled Washington: that people refuse to admit error or accept responsibility for their mistakes. It is this aspect of his handling of the Foley scandal, along with the scandal itself and the perception of a cover-up by the House GOP leadership, which will be the 10-ton anvil hanging from the neck of every congressional Republican candidate on Election Day.

Update: Glenn Greenwald cites comments by Billmon, which I think effectively summarizes in one sentence why this whole scandal couldn’t possibly be a Democratic operation.

If the wing nuts are right for a change and this really was a Democratic covert operation (it would be churlish to call it a dirty tricks operation, since it’s all true) it’s the best one I’ve ever seen. Which, knowing the Democrats, is a pretty good reason for believing it’s NOT their doing.

Greenwald also cites comments by John Podhoretz, whose entire column is worth taking the time to read as well.

THIS column is directed entirely to the sleazy, skuzzy, unprincipled and entirely Machiavellian Democratic political operative who helped design the careful plan resulting in the fingerprint-free leak of Mark Foley e-mails:

Bravo!

This whole Foley business is one of the most dazzling political plays in my or any other lifetime – like watching an unassisted triple play or a running back tossing a 90-yard touchdown pass on a double-reverse.

The National Journal has a story on the political and social dilemma of gay Republicans in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, which is well worth taking the time to read.

Update: Andrew Sullivan has this post, which begins with Pelosi’s role in the Foley scandal, but goes on a tangent about politically active gays from both sides of the spectrum in DC. Also worth reading.

Lots of activity today…

Yesterday, I said that I didn’t think Dennis Hastert’s leadership position was in any immediate jeopardy until prominent congressional Republicans began calling for him to go, particularly 2008 hopefuls.

I am now reassessing that comment, following a report by Fox News today on an internal GOP poll which does not bode well for them.

WASHINGTON — House Republican candidates will suffer massive losses if House Speaker Dennis Hastert remains speaker until Election Day, according to internal polling data from a prominent GOP pollster, FOX News has learned.

“The data suggests Americans have bailed on the speaker,” a Republican source briefed on the polling data told FOX News. “And the difference could be between a 20-seat loss and 50-seat loss.”

My guess for Fox’s source is a member of Congress or an associate who has been critical of the leadership and wants to clean house before a tough election (i.e. Chris Shays) or someone with possible leadership ambitions who sees an opening. Either way, both of them would have the means and the motive to subtly nudge Hastert out the door by leaking word about this poll in hopes he gets the hint and doesn’t take the rest of the party down with him.

ABC News continues to own the story. Two days ago they revealed this shocker:

Former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) interrupted a vote on the floor of the House in 2003 to engage in Internet sex with a high school student who had served as a congressional page, according to new Internet instant messages provided to ABC News by former pages.

Today, they found more skeletons in Foley’s closet:

Three more former congressional pages have come forward to reveal what they call “sexual approaches” over the Internet from former 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.

It all goes downhill from there – more raunchy comments and e-mails from Foley.

The House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to open an investigation into how lawmakers and congressional staffers handled the Foley allegations, creating a new subcommittee and issuing over four dozen subpoenas for testimony and documents. Committee chairman Doc Hastings declined to name names but I think it would be fair to assume that Dennis Hastert is one of them.

Separately, former Foley/Reynolds aide Kirk Fordham was interviewed today by the FBI as part of its investigation.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi deep-sixed a proposal by Hastert to have ex-FBI director Louis Freeh look into the page program:

Hastert had hoped to announce the bipartisan appointment of former FBI director Louis J. Freeh to look into ways to improve the page program, in which teenagers live in a Capitol Hill dorm and attend a special school. But when he called Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) early in the afternoon, she declined to go along with the plan.

Pelosi saw the Freeh proposal as a ploy to burnish the GOP’s image, aides said. She told the speaker that investigators should examine whether existing rules and procedures were followed before the House considers new rules, the aides said.

Finally, an interesting note: ABC News broke the first story about the Foley e-mail one week ago today. Who would have guessed what a firestorm that story would unleash within a week? This story has become Watergate in a microwave.

Slate has this interesting story on how three high-profile public figures caught up in scandal can or have used alcoholism as an excuse to try to generate sympathy and possibly [at least in Mel Gibson’s case] a career comeback. Check it out.

Before we get to today’s developments, I’m going to quote this little nugget I wrote, from the Department of Hate to Say I Told You So:

At a minimum, I expect that aide to be out of a job before Election Day, because he just brought the whiff of scandal onto his boss, who is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign which will now draw the attention of the national political press corps.

Well it happened – Kirk Fordham quit his job as chief of staff to the now-embattled Congressman Tom Reynolds, and admitted he was resigning essentially for the reasons I wrote yesterday.

Like so many, I feel betrayed by Mark Foley’s indefensible behavior. Again, I will not allow the Democrats to make me a political issue in my boss’s race, and I will fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation.”

That might have been the end of it, if House Republicans hadn’t decided to make him their fall guy:

Those sources said Fordham, a former chief of staff for Congressman Mark Foley, had urged Republican leaders last spring not to raise questionable Foley e-mails with the full Congressional Page Board, made up of two Republicans and a Democrat.

“He begged them not to tell the page board,” said one of the Republican sources.

As I wrote previously, no one wants to be pegged as helping to cover up for an Internet sex predator and be the one holding the Foley hot potato when it’s all over, and sensing he was being made a scapegoat, Fordham decided to drop a massive bombshell on Dennis Hastert:

A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office two years ago about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages.

Kirk Fordham told The Associated Press that when he was told about Foley’s inappropriate behavior toward pages, he had “more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene.”

The conversations took place long before the e-mail scandal broke, Fordham said, and at least a year earlier than members of the House GOP leadership have acknowledged.

Not surprisingly, this has turned into an all-out feud between Fordham and Hastert’s office, each accusing the other of lying. CNN has a good recap of the back and forth accusations flying around here. I hope they all get their stories straight before the federal investigators start knocking on doors and asking for statements.

This scandal is radioactive to anyone it touches. My guess is that if anyone else is going to get tossed over the side in the days and weeks ahead, it will be the current and former Hastert aides who were warned by Fordham in 2004, assuming that Fordham’s story checks out.

Although more people have called for Hastert to resign, I’m not sure he’s going to since the scandal as it relates to his own leadership position has not reached a critical mass within his own caucus yet. When big name House and Senate Republicans, particularly any with presidential ambitions for 2008, start calling for Hastert to go, that’s when I’ll say stick a fork in him.

If Hastert decides to buckle down and wait it out, which by all indications appears to be his chosen course of action for the moment, and more revelations trickle out to the media about who knew and what they did about it, Hastert will arguably become the Democrats’ biggest political piñata for the next four weeks. You can already see this strategy in action in this entry at Daily Kos, which tracks how several Democratic congressional candidates have already incorporated the Foley scandal into their campaign attacks.

Stay tuned, this one is not over by a long shot.

Update: Reuters has a story on this:

A senior party aide said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who oversees the congressional intern program at the center of the scandal, could be forced out after the November 7 elections, instead of immediately, as has been urged by some critics. Hastert has said he intends to stay on the job.

“Looks like right now he will keep his job for a maximum of one and one-half months,” said a top party aide, adding that in the meantime Hastert may fire some staffers. Other aides said it remained unclear how long he would stay.

ABC News did three stories on Foley-gate tonight, all worth checking out.

This is my fourth attempt at writing this entry.

The subject was going to be the politician who most jeopardized or ended his or her political career during this election cycle through self-inflicted injuries, careless mistakes, or straight up incompetence.

My original post was going to be about Joe Lieberman.
Then it was Katherine Harris.
Then it was George Allen, and I had gotten pretty far along in writing it when recent events overtook it.
Today we have a winner: NRCC chairman Tom Reynolds.

He gets word of the original email, passes it on to Dennis Hastert, and does nothing.
Then his current chief of staff goes off the reservation to do freelance damage control for Foley and tries to get ABC to spike its report of the smoking gun IM chat transcripts.
Then, he holds a press conference about the Foley scandal at a day care center surrounded by children. A reporter even asks Reynolds if the children can leave the room so they can discuss the Foley scandal. See the video on You Tube:

He was already in a difficult re-election battle amid a hostile national mood towards Congress, but in the course of the week he just made his own re-election campaign much more difficult and the subsequent scandal will attract the scrutiny of the national political press. Regardless of what happens to him on Election Day, this man will not be running the NRCC in 2008.

FYI, the title was taken from a Nine Inch Nails song.