Reidblog [The Reid Report blog]

Following the resignation, it became apparent that many GOP leaders in Congress had been aware of the email correspondence between Foley and the young page as early as the fall of 2005. Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), who sponsored the sixteen-year-old page, stated that he first learned of the online exchanges from a reporter late in 2005. At that point, he contacted Hastert's office regarding the matter. After discussing the situation with Hastert’s deputy chief of staff and counsel, he was told to notify the Clerk of the House. When the clerk asked to see the text of the email, Alexander declined, citing that, “his (the page) parents said they didn’t want me to do anything.” [9] [10]

Page Committee Chairman John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said that in late 2005, information was passed along to him by the clerk’s office regarding the email exchange. Shimkus advised Foley to immediately stop contacting the boy, and Foley agreed. Shimkus never informed Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), the lone Democrat on the Page Committee, about the situation. Kildee, who has served on the page committee for twenty years, was not alone in his exclusion. No House Democrat, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was notified. [11] [12]

In the spring of 2006, Alexander notified Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee regarding the matter. Reynolds claims to have then informed Hastert that the matter was investigated by both the clerk and Shimkus. Hastert, however, had originally claimed that he had no knowledge of the emails until the week of Foley’s resignation. When confronted with the contradiction, Hastert did not deny that the conversation took place, but rather that he did not recall it. According to the Washington Post, “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.” [13]

House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told the Washington Post the night of the resignation that he had first learned of the inappropriate contact between Foley and the page in the spring of 2006, and that he then contacted Hastert concerning the matter. Oddly, Boehner then contacted the Post to state that he could not remember whether or not he had spoken with Hastert. [14]

While many GOP leaders claimed that Foley’s actions came as a surprise to them, apparently it had been going on for several years. Following the resignation, a former page publicly said that a Republican staff member warned him and other pages five years ago of Foley and his odd behavior. [15]

Democrats sharply criticized GOP leaders for failing to properly address the matter sooner and involve them in the process. Doing so, some argued, may have led to an inquiry which would have uncovered the more sexually-explicit instant messages which apparently were never known by House leadership. This negligence, to many, was augmented by the fact that Foley was permitted to remain as co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. Democrats were joined in their criticism by some Republicans. Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) stated that any member of the GOP leadership who knew of the emails and took no action should resign. [16] [17]

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