Denny, We Hardly Knew You

Uh, oh.

Seems like one of Denny Hastert's aides has been telling tales out of school. According to The Washington Post, Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, confronted Foley about his conduct toward pages long before the Speaker has admitted.

If this attempt at intervention had gone anywhere, you can bet that Republicans would have trumpeted it. So, what it comes down to is that when the chairman of the House Page Board, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), confronted Foley in November 2005, the Republican leadership had known about the Florida congressman for a long time--perhaps as long as two years. And yet, Foley was permitted to remain in Congress, and permitted to stay as co-chair of the Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. Obviously, the Republican leadership was more intent on covering up for Foley than in defending the values that the party claims to represent, not to mention the capitol pages themselves.

This new account also undercuts Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, who denied that a meeting such as that described by former Foley Chief of Staff and staff member for Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) (chief of the Republican congressional campaign committee), Kirk Fordham. When he resigned earlier in the week, Fordham claimed to have told Hastert's staff about Foley three years ago.

So, there it is: the cover-up continues, and continues to unravel. Analysts have been saying that the Foley scandal will soon fade from the public consciousness, to be replaced by.... But if the Republicans continue to bungle, we may be hearing about this sordid affair right up to November 7th.

Can Palmer or even Denny hang on until after the elections? I wouldn't put down a dime on either of them.