Hastert Urges Quick Action on Foley
WASHINGTON Oct 25, 2006 (AP)— House Speaker Dennis Hastert urged ethics investigators to work quickly to unravel the congressional pages scandal Tuesday, testifying before them just after a GOP lawmaker whose recollections differ from his.
The investigation is focusing on which House leaders were told about inappropriate e-mails sent by Rep. Mark Foley to former pages, when leaders were told and what was done in response. Hastert and some other Republicans have suggested revelations about the messages were timed to hurt the GOP in next month's elections.
Tuesday's appearances by Hastert, R-Ill., and House GOP campaign chair Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., could signal that the four-member ethics committee is nearing the end of its testimony-taking phase. Both men testified behind closed doors as committee rules require.
The committee Tuesday also questioned Mike Stokke, Hastert's deputy chief of staff. He was among the Hastert aides who learned of Foley's overly friendly e-mails to a former Louisiana page in the fall of 2005. He refused to comment after five hours of testimony.
Hastert said afterward that he had told the committee "that they needed to move quickly to get to the bottom of this issue, including who knew about the sexually explicit messages and when they knew about it."
Hastert has said he first learned of Foley's inappropriate e-mails to a former Louisiana page and sexually explicit e-mails to another page just last month as the matter became public and the Florida Republican resigned.
But Hastert's appearance followed that of Reynolds, who has said he learned of Foley's inappropriate e-mails to the Louisiana teen last spring and discussed the matter with Hastert.
Hastert has said he didn't recall that conversation. He has also assured conservative activist Paul Weyrich that Majority Leader John Boehner was wrong when Boehner said he and Hastert discussed Foley's problems last spring.
Hastert said he answered investigators' questions "to the best of my ability."
The Foley scandal continues to weigh on GOP poll numbers just two weeks before midterm elections that could cost the Republicans control of Congress. The ethics committee's top Democrat, Howard Berman of California, would not say in a brief exchange whether the panel would release any findings before Election Day.
Source: www.checkfreshnews.com
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