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 questionable behavior. 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. Hastert and his top aides have been sharply criticized by Democrats for failing to act promptly after receiving warnings that Foley had been sexually predatory in dealing with pages and former pages.
Only in Washington, D.C., can you take a group of people (Republicans) in charge of the House and basically have evidence that they've been looking the other way while a predator has been going after 15- and 16-year-old pages, and they somehow have the audacity to turn that into a political attack against Democrats.
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