Panel Finds No Rules Broken in Foley Case

Talk about doublespeak here! This is off the New York Times:

WASHINGTON -- The House ethics committee has concluded that Republican leaders were negligent in protecting male pages from ex-Rep. Mark Foley's improper advances but did not break any rules in handling the Foley case.

The committee was releasing its findings Friday.

The aide, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, was made aware of the committee's findings.

"The Republicans did not break rules but were negligent in protecting the pages," the aide said.

A four-member investigative subcommittee interviewed dozens of witnesses, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to determine whether majority Republicans took strong enough action against Foley when they learned of his questionable e-mails and other computer messages.

[....]

The ethics committee, evenly divided by party, had to resolve several conflicts in the case.

Hastert's aides could have learned of Foley's inappropriate e-mails as early as 2002 and as late as 2005, depending on who is recounting the events.

The speaker said his aides first learned in the fall of 2005 about questionable e-mails between Foley and a former page from Louisiana. Foley's former top aide said he told Hastert's chief of staff about the Florida lawmaker in 2002 or 2003.

Also, Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Republican campaign chief Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., said they told Hastert about Foley's inappropriate behavior last spring. Hastert said he could not recall those conversations, and did not learn of Foley's conduct until late September when the matter became public.

In other words, this whole "ethics" report is just another sham--a major CYA for the incompetence of this Republican-controlled Congress regarding this scandal. In this case, it was party politics over ethics, as the Republicans wanted to keep Foley in the House as a means to maintain Republican control of both the House and Congress--just as Iraq is exploding, the Abramoff and DeLay scandals are making headlines, and the image of the Republican's "culture of corruption" was dragging down the Republican-controlled Congress' poll numbers. The Foley scandal really showed the dirty underside of this new 110th Congressional Republican House leadership--a Republican House leadership which will now containJohn Boehner as the House Minority Leader. You can bet that the last thing the current 109th Congressional Republican leadership will want to do is to open their new House Minority Leader to charges of ethics violations. So we get this slap-on-the-wrist excuse of, "Well, technically they didn't break any laws, but they really should have known better."

What do you expect from a corrupt Republican congressional leadership investigating their own political party members in this scandal?

ABC News--The Blotter: Republicans Held Damage Control Calls Before Foley Scandal Broke

This is from ABC News--The Blotter:

The National Republican Campaign Committee along with the Foley campaign team held conference calls to control the potential damage regarding an ABC News' inquiry into correspondence between then-Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and a former congressional page.

The calls were first reported today on the daily political blog of the New York Daily News.

NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti and Kirk Fordham, then the chief of staff to NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds, participated in the calls, the first of which took place on Wednesday, Sept. 27, according to the reporter Ben Smith.

Now I do have to wonder who else participated in those conference calls before the Foley scandal broke. Was House Speaker Dennis Hastert involved? How about NRCC chairman Tom Reynolds? Or House Majority Leader John Boehner? Continuing with the ABC News story:

ABC News had called Rep. Foley's office earlier that week regarding an e-mail exchange between the congressman and a former page in which Foley had asked the page for a picture of himself. The page had become uncomfortable by the exchange and reported it to a congressional staffer.

A second conference call took place on Thursday, Sept. 28, the day The Blotter ran a report on the e-mails.

NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti confirmed to ABC News that the calls took place and that he participated in them but would not comment on who else took part in the calls.

"This is part of what the NRCC does, helping members and campaigns deal with potential problems," said Forti.

Forti said he was invited to join the call by Foley's campaign team.

The day after the second call, ABC News' The Blotter broke the story regarding the sexually charged exchanges, which were obtained earlier that day.

Of course Forti is refusing to tell ABC News who else participated in the conference calls--if it was revealed that House Speaker Dennis Hastert knew of the scandal through the conference call even before the Foley story broke out on ABC News, this would all but destroy the all-ready-shredded-Republican-musical-chairs-cover-up story the Republican Party has been spinning for the past month. Of course, if the NRCC is holding a conference call on this matter just days before the ABC News story was published, it is a pretty good bet that you're going to bring in your top party leaders--such as Hastert, Boehner, and Reynolds--to review the scandal, and discuss the GOP political damage-control that would be needed after the Foley story was published just a month before the midterm elections.

Can we say GOP conference call cover-up?

Foley, Ney, and Cunningham all get to keep their congressional pensions.

I also found this off ABC News--The Blotter:

Former Congressman Mark Foley may have stepped down in disgrace, but he will be eligible for his congressional pension no matter what, even if he faces jail time, according to Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayer's Union, a non-partisan taxpayer advocacy group.

"We estimate $32,000 annually, and that would begin at age 62," Sepp said. "And the pension will grow as the cost of living rises."

Foley was earning $165,200 annually, the standard salary of a House member, up until he resigned on Sept. 29 after ABC News questioned him about sexually explicit Internet messages with former congressional pages.

In May of this year, the House proposed legislation taking pensions away from members convicted of bribery and corruption, but that bill has been stalled in "conference negotiations" before going to the Senate, meaning that two recently convicted congressmen, Congressman Bob Ney, who is still collecting his full salary, and former Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham, will also get their pensions "no matter what," according to Sepp.

Foley and Ney's service records are almost identical. Ney will start with $29,000 annually, slightly lower than Foley's because he is married. Both can opt for a reduced pension starting at 56, which means they can start collecting their checks in just four years.

Cunningham, who is 64 and now in prison for accepting bribes, immediately began collecting $64,000 annually when he stepped down in November of 2005, after racking up twenty years of service in the military and Congress.

The House Clerk's press office did not return calls for comment.

You have just got to love this--a sitting congressman can be convicted of bribery, corruption, and perhaps even rape. Yet that same convicted congressman will always get their pension, even as they screwed the American people during their years of public service.

Key staff members in Hastert's office expected to testify regarding Foley scandal

Well, it appears the House Ethics Committee is setting its sights on Hastert's office. Yes, we've got another exciting edition of Folye's Follies here. I found this off ABC News--The Blotter:

Top aides to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) are expected to testify this week in the House Ethics Committee investigation of the Foley page scandal.

Hastert may also appear, according to Chicago Sun-Times political reporter Lynn Sweet. Today Chief of Staff Scott Palmer entered the room to testify before the committee around 2p.m.

The investigation of how the Republican leadership handled the issue has provoked turmoil and finger-pointing in Hastert's office, congressional sources say.

Some of Hastert's principal aides have hired criminal defense lawyers to represent them during the investigation. Ted Van Der Meid, Hastert's chief in-house counsel, has retained Washington, D.C.-based attorney Lee Blalack, who also represents convicted former Congressman Duke Cunningham.

A key focus of the congressional investigation is the timing of when Hastert and his top staff first learned of Foley's problem behavior toward congressional pages.

The results of an internal review conducted by the speaker's office, released on Sept. 30, said Hastert's staff only learned of complaints about Foley in the fall of 2005 after a congressional page complained about inappropriate e-mails.

But former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl as well as Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, have both told associates, and are believed to have testified before the House Ethics Committee, that top staff in Speaker Hastert's office were informed several years ago about Foley's inappropriate behavior toward congressional pages.

There are a couple things I find interesting with this story. The first is how the Ethics Committee is shifting its attention now towards Hastert's office just two weeks before the congressional midterms. So far, the committee is looking at Hastert's staff--both Palmer and possibly Van Der Meid for now. But it is going to be really big political news once Hastert is called in to testify before the Ethics Committee. That is certainly not good to have two weeks before the election.

The second thing I find interesting is that Hastert's staff members are hiring criminal defense lawyers to represent them during the investigation. Van Der Meid has just hired Lee Blalack, who has also just represented Duke Cunningham--that's comforting to know, considering how Cunningham was convicted of bribery. I just have to wonder what Van Der Meid knows about this Foley mess.

There is a truth somewhere in all these contradictory statements between Hastert, Reynolds, Shimkus, Alexander, and all the minor staff members of Fordham, Trandahl, Palmer, and possibly even Van Der Meid. The longer this thing stays in the news, the closer we are at getting towards the truth of this issue.

Exclusive: Former House Clerk's Testimony

How about a Double Feature of Foley's Follies? This is off ABC News--The Blotter:

The former clerk of the House of Representatives, Jeff Trandahl, who testified for more than four hours before the House Ethics Committee today, is believed to have testified that a top aide to House Speaker Dennis Hastert was informed of "all issues dealing with the page program," according to a Republican familiar with the investigation.

The Republican source said Trandahl planned to name Ted Van Der Meid, the speaker's counsel and floor manager, as the person who was briefed on a regular basis about any issue that arose in the page program, including a "problem group of members and staff who spent too much time socializing with pages outside of official duties." One of whom was Mark Foley.

Trandahl's testimony before the House Ethics Committee could provide additional evidence that key members of the speaker's staff were aware of problems involving the page program for years.

Van Der Meid declined to comment to ABC News, but a source close to Van Der Meid says he expects to be called to testify before the House Ethics Committee next week and plans to answer all questions.

Last week, Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, testified before the Ethics Committee about his public allegations that the speaker's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, was told about problems with Foley at least three years ago.

Palmer has said that Fordham's version of events "never happened."

What I find amazing here with this story is that the congressional staff members are now contradicting themselves--perhaps even under oath before the House Ethics Committee. Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, testified that he told House Speaker Dennis Hastert's chief of staff Scott Palmer about Foley at least three years ago. Palmer denies that this conversation with Fordham ever happened. Now we have this former clerk to the House, Jeff Trandahl, testifying that a top aid to Hastert was informed of all issues regarding the page program, which could also be a reference to Foley. Trandahl plans to name Hastert's counsel Ted Van Der Meid, as to being informed on the page program and Foley. You can bet that the House Ethics Committee will be calling on Van Der Meid soon to determine whether Palmer or Hastert knew beforehand about Foley. The end result is that not only are the Republican congressmen refusing to fall on their swords for the good of the GOP, but their staff members are refusing to fall on their own swords for the good of the party in this Foley cover-up fiasco.

More to come.

Priest Acknowledges Intimate Contact With Foley

I found this off The Washington Post:

A retired priest from Malta acknowledged today that he had intimate contact with a youthful Mark Foley that involved nudity and -- on at least one occasion -- "light touching," but denied that he and Foley had "sexual intercourse."

Yes, it is another exciting edition of Foley's Follies. Continuing with the WaPost article:

The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, in a telephone interview with The Washington Post from the Maltese island of Gozo, said he was surprised that his long-ago interaction with Foley had become linked to the scandal that erupted last month and cost the former congressman his job.

Foley, who served as an altar boy at the Sacred Heart Catholic church in Lake Worth, Fla., when Mercieca was assigned there in the mid-1960s, resigned from Congress after reports about sexually intimate electronic messages he had sent to Congressional pages. Following his resignation, Foley entered alcohol rehabilitation, said he was gay, and alleged that he had been sexually abused by a member of the clergy as a youth.

This morning the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, citing confidential sources close to Foley's family, identified Mercieca as the priest in question. Though Mercieca confirmed his past ties to Foley to the Herald-Tribune and in the Post interview, the Post could not confirm that Foley was referring to Mercieca in his allegations, or whether there may be another priest involved.

So I guess Mark Foley isn't responsible for his actions in engaging in sexually explicit IMs with a 16-year-old page because Mark Foley was sexually abused by a Catholic priest.

You've got to love the spin on this.

But my interest here isn't just about Mark Foley. Foley's career as a public official is pretty much finished. What I do find interesting here is that the Foley scandal has split into two tracks. The first tracks is obviously the personal details of the Foley sex scandal--the publishing of the explicit emails, the resignation, Foley's entering into rehab, and now a sexual abuse connection between Foley and the Catholic Church. A sitting congressman was sexually abused by a Catholic priest--time for an investigation! This latest revelation is keeping the scandal fresh in the news media. And with just over two weeks before the election, the more that Mark Foley remains on the front page, the worst it is going to be for the GOP.

But we have a second track here on the Mark Foley scandal. This second track has been the GOP cover-up of the Foley scandal. This story is also on the WaPost:

WASHINGTON -- House Majority Leader John Boehner testified before the House ethics committee Thursday, indicating afterward that he repeated his statements that he had told Speaker Dennis Hastert of Rep. Mark Foley's overly friendly e-mails to a former male page.

Boehner, R-Ohio, would not say what he specifically told the committee behind closed doors, but has publicly quoted Hastert as telling him the complaint "had been taken care of."

[....]

He appeared after the former clerk of the House testified about his actions regarding Foley's inappropriate conduct with male pages.

Hastert has said he doesn't recall the conversation with Boehner.

Boehner also issued a written statement, saying, "The despicable conduct from Mark Foley outraged all members who have great respect for this institution. Had anyone known about it, we would have moved to expel him from our ranks immediately."

Former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl did not answer reporters' questions as he left the panel's offices after several hours of testimony. His appearance was central to the case, though, since he shouldered day-to-day responsibility for the page program and had confronted Foley last fall about inappropriate e-mails.

[....]

At issue in the ethics committee investigation is how the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., dealt with the knowledge that Foley, a Florida Republican, was sending inappropriate e-mails to teenage congressional pages. The answers could affect not just Hastert but the prospects for control of the House when voters cast ballots in the Nov. 7 midterm elections.

In an internal report released by Hastert, his aides contend that they first learned about Foley's conduct in the fall of 2005, when they became aware of overly friendly e-mails to a former Louisiana page. However, Foley's former top aide said he told Hastert's chief of staff about Foley's conduct in 2002 or 2003.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, who also was to testify Thursday, told a Cincinnati radio station earlier this month that when he approached Hastert about Foley last spring, the speaker told him "it had been taken care of."

With polls showing the Foley scandal could hurt Republicans in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Trandahl's testimony could be damaging if he contradicts Hastert's account and says Republican leaders lacked the urgency required to protect the teenage pages. Hastert has fended off calls for his resignation and said he believes he and his staff acted properly.

Trandahl was the official who likely would have known about any problems involving the page program, including improper conduct by pages or improper approaches from lawmakers or House employees. He supervised the program and was on its controlling group, the House Page Board, which consists of three lawmakers, the House clerk and the sergeant at arms.

This track is even more damaging to the Republicans. Because what we have here is really a circular firing squad among the top Republican leaders in the House--Boehner, Hastert, NRCC chairman Tom Reynolds, John Shimkus, and Rodney Alexander. With everyone contradicting everyone else's version of events, you've got a CYA cover-up on an issue that the top Republican leadership wanted to ignore until after the congressional midterm elections. Because that is what this cover-up is all about. How can the Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives--and Congress--in the 2006 midterm elections. The Republicans thought that they could keep this scandal quiet until after November--until after Foley was re-elected. If the scandal broke after the elections, Foley could resign and the House seat would remain vacant--no change in party control in the House. The Republicans gambled they could keep this quiet. They were wrong. And now with just over two weeks to go, this track is also making the news as the top Republican leaders contradict each other--each refusing to fall on their own swords for the good of the Republican Party. What is even worst is that both of these Foley scandal tracts complement each other in keeping this scandal fresh in the news media.

Pass the popcorn.

Foley Follies takes a new twist....

This is off The Washington Post:

Federal prosecutors today ordered the House to preserve all documents and other materials possibly related to former Rep. Mark Foley's electronic communications with teenage pages on Capitol Hill, signaling an intensifying investigation by the FBI and Justice Department into possible criminal activity connected to the scandal.

The three-page "preservation letter," sent to the House counsel from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor in Washington, indicates that law enforcement officials are getting closer to seeking grand jury subpoenas for records or searches of Foley's Capitol Hill office, according to law enforcement officials and legal experts.

FBI agents around the country have begun seeking to locate and interview former pages who may have had contact with Foley (R-Fla.), and the Justice Department and FBI are discussing the use of administrative subpoenas to obtain subscriber information for the e-mail and instant-messaging accounts at the heart of the case, according to law enforcement officials.

Although still classified as a preliminary investigation, the demands to preserve records and other steps increase the chances that federal prosecutors will open a full criminal investigation and bring the case before a grand jury, officials said.

The FBI is now investigating the Foley scandal--especially since they've sealed Foley's office so that FBI agents can go through the documentation and records there. Who knows what the FBI will find in Foley's office.

Of course, the scandal is taking another turn here:

Also this afternoon, Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, announced that he was resigning from his current job as chief of staff for Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.). In the days leading up to Foley's resignation, Reynolds allowed Fordham to advise the Florida congressman and Fordham played a role in helping Foley after an ABC News reporter told the congressman he had copies of his sexually charged exchanges with pages.

Brian Ross of ABC told The Post Sunday that when ABC approached Foley with the graphic exchanges, Fordham intervened and offered ABC the exclusive story of Foley's resignation, if ABC withheld the instant messages. Ross refused the deal.

In his statement, Fordham said he felt betrayed by Foley's "indefensible behavior" and was resigning because it was "clear the Democrats are intent on making me a political issue in my boss's race, and I will not let them do so."

He said his help to Foley was based on concerns about his "emotional well-being."

But he strongly denied that he sought to impede any investigation. "I want it to be perfectly clear that I never attempted to prevent any inquiries or investigation of Foley's conduct by House officials or any other authorities," he said.

So Forham resigned from Reynolds' chief of staff position. Fordham is also so deep into this scandal here--first for taking a leave from Reynolds's staff to advise Foley, and then for the revelations that Fordham tried to bribe ABC in not publishing the Foley IMs. And now Reynolds claims that he never knew of Forham's consultations with Foley on the scandal? This is really becoming a case of where the Republicans are standing around in a circle, firing on each other. They are trying to find a scapegoat for which they could blame this entire scandal--and Fordham has become the latest casualty here. Now, if Fordham willing to fall on the sword for protecting Roberts, Hastert, and Boehner, or is he going to refuse to become the scapegoat?

More to come.

More on Foley's Follies....

The Mark Foley sex scandal has taken an incredible life on its own here. What started as a creepy sex scandal with suggestive emails and explicit IMs between a Republican congressman and a 16-year-old former page, has now developed into a huge GOP cover-up, denial, and PR-spin that is completely laughable. So I thought I'd include some of the links and timelines for this scandal.

This story first broke out on September 28, 2006 with the ABC News publication of Foley's emails with the 16-year old page. At that point, the scandal was focused on Foley and the email exchange, although it was even more creepy to find out that Foley was the Co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus. I personally didn't think much of the story--I figured that Foley would try to keep his repulsive behavior quiet from both political parties, and that he was just now found out.

On September 29, Foley resigns. What is more interesting is that we learn of even more details regarding explicit instant messages that Foley sent to the page. Later that day, ABC News publishes the IM exchange between Foley and the page. Here is a PDF file of the IM exchange between Foley and the page. Both Americablog and Raw Story has the Foley emails published.

It was also about this time that the first allegations of a GOP cover-up on the Foley scandal started surfacing. An Associated Press story in theSan Francisco Chronicle reveals a number of details here. First, the page worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander. Alexander said that he learned of email exchanges 10 or 11 months ago and informed the parents. The parents didn't want to pursue the matter, so Alexander dropped it. Alexander also informed NRCC chairman Rep. Thomas Reynolds of the matter.

Also in the SF Chronicle article, Chairman of the Page Board, Rep. John Shimkus interviewed Foley, but determined that there were no indiscretions. Shimkus learned of the Foley emails in late 2005. House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office did not know of these allegations.

On September 30, the crap hit the fan. The Washington Post reported that House Majority Leader John Boehner learned of Foley's email contacts last spring. Boehner then told the WaPost that he informed Hastert of Foley's allegations. Boehner then contacted the Post and said he couldn't remember when he told Hastert about Foley. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded an investigation into the matter, but Boehner cut her off, saying that the Foley matter should be referred to the ethics committee. Roll Call then reports a story where NRCC chairman Rep. Tom Reynolds claimed that he informed Hastert of Foley in February of 2006. Alexander then said that he learned of the Foley allegations through a reporter. All of this boils down to this damning paragraph in a Roll Call story:

At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.

In addition, the Roll Call story also reports that Rep. Dale Kildee, the lone Democrat on the Page Board, was never told of Foley.

We also start to learn of supposedly staff incompetence in Hastert's office. Hastert's office released a statement where Alexander's chief of staff told Hastert staff member Tim Kennedy about the Foley matter. Kennedy then brought this matter up with his supervisor, Mike Stokke, Speaker Hastert's Deputy Chief of Staff. Hastert's staff talked with Alexander's staff about Foley, after which Shimkus' staff is brought into the matter. Hastert was never informed of Foley by his staff. In other words, Hastert's statement is nothing more than a game of musical staff chairs.

But we also learn of another game of musical staff chairs. According to Americablog, It appears that Tom Reynolds' chief of staff is Kirk Fordham, a former chief of staff and campaign director for Mike Foley. And it appears that Fordham went back to Foley to advise him of the scandal. Remember, Alexander first told Reynolds of Foley back in late 2005.

The cover-up starts unraveling apart. Reynolds released a statement saying that he told Hastert about Foley, just after Alexander informed Reynolds. Hastert's statement doesn't deny that Reynolds informed the speaker of Foley, but rather that Hastert "does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynolds’ recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution."

The New York Times then reported that the young kids involved in the page program were told to stay away from Mark Foley. Even more, the Times reported that other pages have come forward with blatant IMs from Foley.

Sunday October 1, 2006. It is a disaster. According to the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 — Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail traffic between Representative Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret and allowed Mr. Foley to remain head of a Congressional caucus on children’s issues, Republican lawmakers said Saturday.

[....]

Among those who became aware earlier this year of the fall 2005 communications between Mr. Foley and the 16-year-old page, who worked for Representative Rodney Alexander, Republican of Louisiana, were Representative John A. Boehner, the majority leader, and Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Mr. Reynolds said in a statement Saturday that he had also personally raised the issue with Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.

[....]

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers said Saturday that Congress and the public deserved a full report on Mr. Foley’s dealings with the pages, who are high school students who serve as runners and perform other duties. The lawmakers said there should also be an inquiry into the leadership’s knowledge of his activities and its response.

“Anyone who was involved in the chain of information should come forward and tell when they were told, what they were told and what they did with the information when they got it,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York. Mr. King called it a “dark day” for Congress and said, “We need a full investigation.”

Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, said any leader who had been aware of Mr. Foley’s behavior and failed to take action should step down. “If they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership,” Mr. Shays said.

ABC News reported that the GOP staff had actually warned pages about Foley back in 2001. And what is more, it appeared that the warning went out to Republican pages--not to the Democratic pages.

The New York Daily News reported that Foley gave $100,000 to the National Republican Campaign Committee, whose chairman is Tom Reynolds.

Then there is this from The New York Times:

At the Justice Department, an official said that no investigation was under way but that the agency had “real interest” in examining the circumstances to see if any crimes were committed.

Then there is this blockbuster from The Washington Post:

With his statement, Reynolds, who is locked in a difficult reelection campaign, signaled he was unwilling to take the fall alone amid partisan attacks that were becoming increasingly vituperative.

Republican insiders said Reynolds spoke out because he was angry that Hastert appeared willing to let him take the blame for the party leadership's silence.

In other words, Reynolds and Hastert were having a major fight as to who was to take the blame for the Foley cover-up. With Reynolds in a tight election race, Reynolds is certainly not willing to commit political suicide for Hastert. The top Republican leadership starts to turn on each other.

October 2nd, 2006. The feeding frenzy in this scandal continues as the GOP desperately tries to spin Foley away. White House Counselor Dan Bartlett continues pushing the GOP spin by praising the "very aggressive" House leadership on the Foley scandal and claims that the White House opposes an independent investigation of the issue. White House press secretary Tony Snow dismisses the Foley scandal as nothing "more than simply naughty e-mails."

And yet, while the Republicans continue their spinning here, more devastating details arise. It appears that Foley was a major fundraiser for the NRCC. According to the NY Times:

Mr. Foley, who served on the House Ways and Means Committee, was a prolific fund-raiser. His campaign account had a balance of $2.7 million at the end of August, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Carl Forti, the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Sunday that the committee would gladly accept Mr. Foley’s money or part of it to devote to House races. Mr. Foley already gave $100,000 to the committee in July, campaign records show, as part of the party’s Battleground Program, to which members are asked to contribute.

“The money is in the control of Mr. Foley,” Mr. Forti said. “Whatever he decides to do with it is up to him.”

House Speaker Dennis Hastert finally calls upon the Justice Department to investigate Foley. But even with Hastert's call for an investigation, Hastert still downplays the entire Foley issue. In his letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Hastert writes:

“As I am sure you are aware, there are two different and distinct communications at issue here. First, Mr. Foley sent an email to a former page of Representative Alexander in the fall of 2005. This email was determined to be "over friendly" by Representative Alexander's office but was not sexual in nature. Second, based on media reports, there is a different set of communications which were sexually explicit instant messages which Mr. Foley reportedly sent another former page or pages. These communications, of which no one in the House Leadership was aware to my knowledge, reportedly were sent sometime in 2003.

The GOP spin continues.

Meanwhile, Mark Foley has checked himself into an alcohol rehab clinic.

But the scandal continues on. Now information is coming out that Foley's office may have tried to cut a deal with ABC to not publish to Foley story:

On Friday afternoon, a strategist for Rep. Mark Foley tried to cut a deal with ABC's Brian Ross.

The correspondent, who had dozens of instant messages that Foley sent to teenage House pages, had asked to interview the Florida Republican. Foley's former chief of staff said the congressman was quitting and that Ross could have that information exclusively if he agreed not to publish the raw, sexually explicit messages.

"I said we're not making any deals," Ross recalls. He says the Internet made the story possible, because on Thursday he posted a story on his ABC Web page, the Blotter, after obtaining one milder e-mail that Foley had sent a 16-year-old page, asking for a picture. Within two hours, former pages had e-mailed Ross and provided the salacious messages. The only question then, says Ross, was "whether this could be authenticated."

Americablog confirms that it was Kirk Forham who tried to cut the deal with Ross.

Finally, there is this ABC News story reporting that Foley actually sought a rendevous with the page:

In addition to explicit sexual language, former Congressman Mark Foley's Internet messages also include repeated efforts to get the underage recipient to rendezvous with him at night.

"I would drive a few miles for a hot stud like you," Foley said in one message obtained by ABC News.

The FBI says it has opened a "preliminary investigation" of Foley's e-mails. Federal law enforcement officials say attempts by Foley to meet in person could constitute the necessary evidence for a federal charge of "soliciting for sex" with a minor on the Internet.

In another message, Foley, using the screen name Maf54, appears to describe having been together with the teen in San Diego.

Maf54: I miss you lots since san diego.
Teen: ya I cant wait til dc
Maf54: :)
Teen: did you pick a night for dinner
Maf54: not yet…but likely Friday
Teen: ok…ill plan for Friday then
Maf54: that will be fun

The messages also show the teen is, at times, uncomfortable with Foley's aggressive approach.

Maf54: I want to see you
Teen: Like I said not til feb…then we will go to dinner
Maf54: and then what happens
Teen: we eat…we drink…who knows…hang out…late into the night
Maf54: and
Teen: I dunno
Maf54: dunno what
Teen: hmmm I have the feeling that you are fishing here…im not sure what I would be comfortable with…well see

Foley resigned Friday after ABC News questioned him about the Internet messages.

This is the timeline of the Foley scandal that I can construct using a number of internet sources. This is certainly not a complete timeline--there has been so much information, speculation and analysis of this scandal over the past five days. But it is certainly a start here. Big hat tips to Americablog, Think Progress, and Crooks and Liars for links and background information on this posting.