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Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 01:32:28 PM EST
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More doo-doo for Hastert:

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says she was not told about suggestive e-mails that a Florida congressman sent to a 16-year-old former Capitol page, even though she is one of three representatives who oversee the page program....

Several high-ranking House Republicans have known about the e-mails for months, including Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the House Page Board.

Late last year, Shimkus met with Foley about the e-mails. But Shimkus never told Capito or the board's other member, Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., about them until Friday, according to all three.

"There's only three of us on the page board. I feel that we should have been informed," Capito said. "I'm absolutely disgusted by what I'm hearing. I was caught totally unaware."

[Charleston Gazette]

< Not Just 'Naughty Emails' -- But Nice Try, Tony | Drudge on Foley: The Kids Asked For It >

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    • Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members (none / 0) (#2)
    by Aaron on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 02:25:27 PM EST
    Yet more evidence of how the wealthy and powerful in this country are allowed to prey upon the young, while those around them turn a blind eye. I'm sure many who read about these kind of things are tempted to think such behavior is the exception, on the contrary adult sexual predators walk among us everywhere, in our elementary middle and high schools , in law enforcement, on the bench in courtrooms, in law offices, in the government. Wherever they are, young people who come into contact with them are not safe. I have little doubt that Mark Foley has been preying upon children his entire life, this is not some manifestation of his latter years. Whenever such behavior is uncovered, it's prudent to go back and look at all the children that this person has been in contact with, his own children, the children of relatives, the children of employees and friends etc. Usually you'll find young people who have been damaged all along the way, most of them suffering in silence and shame, their ability to trust shattered, often their entire lives altered in ways that most people can't begin to imagine. As these kids, some of whom are perhaps adults now, watch these revelations in the news, they begin to relive their own experiences, dredging up the memories which have been suppressed or forgotten, making them afraid all over again, afraid they will have to face those experiences once more. I don't care anything about politics in this matter, nor do I have any sympathetic feeling for Foley, beyond the likelihood that he himself was abused as a child, this is most often the case with sex abusers. My only interest is the children and young people who have been exposed to Foley's behavior, and getting them the help they need to deal with the damage which has been done. I also want to see anyone who enabled Foley's behavior, his wife, family members, members of Congress, all of them exposed and made to account for their failure to do anything to protect children. Without these enablers, such predatory behavior would not have gone unaddressed into his latter years. Make no mistake that these individuals bear some full measure of responsibility for seeing such things occur, and saying nothing. These are sins which demand atonement, crimes which can never be laid to rest until there is justice for the victims. Foley needs to be arrested, and everyone in his family should be questioned, lest far more heinous crimes remain hidden and the collateral damage they may have caused remain concealed. Protect the children, end this degenerate madness which corrupts our society.

    Re: Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members (none / 0) (#3)
    by Zeno on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 02:33:46 PM EST
    I have a Republican colleague who no longer buys the GOP cover up. He has a daughter who was in the capital page program in Washington. Despite being a girl, she had dinner with Representative Foley, but it was as the date of a male page who didn't want to dine alone with Foley. My colleague says all the pages knew about Foley and his loyalty to the GOP is shaken. He sees a sleazy cover up and he doesn't like it. See my post at Foley Follies Roadshow.

    Re: Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members (none / 0) (#4)
    by roxtar on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 03:40:25 PM EST
    Shimkus could have acted to protect the kids by bringing the other members of the page board into the loop. Instead, he went to the political leadership and treated child molestation as a political problem instead of treating it as a threat to the kids for whom he was responsible. He's gotta go. And the rest of the political GOP leadership with him.

    Re: Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members (none / 0) (#1)
    by cmpnwtr on Mon Oct 02, 2006 at 04:51:07 PM EST
    This seems like evidence alone of trying to "contain" or cover-up any further inquiry. Any parent, any adult who had knowledge of those e-mails would suspect a child predator and want an investigation immediately. The whole Repug leadership needs to resign and an independent prosecutor appointed to take charge of this investigation. We know now that crimes were committed, the remaining question is how criminally culpable are Hastert and Co. ?

    Re: Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members (none / 0) (#5)
    by Richard Aubrey on Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 01:35:33 PM EST
    The nasty e-mails were held by somebody for about three years. Looks as if they were concerned about elections instead of protecting the children. What is the law about somebody who has evidence but fails to alert authorities?

    Hastert Didn't Tell Page Board Members | 5 comments (5 topical)