Hastert knows nothing.

Nothing!

(emphasis added)

Staffer Cites Earlier Role by Hastert's Office

Confrontation With Foley Detailed

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, October 7, 2006; A01

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.

The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.

The staff member's account buttresses the position of Foley's onetime chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, who said earlier this week that he had appealed to Palmer in 2003 or earlier to intervene, after Fordham's own efforts to stop Foley's behavior had failed. Fordham said Foley and Palmer, one of the most powerful figures in the House of Representatives, met within days to discuss the allegations.

...
Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean declined to directly comment on the second House staff member's assertion, saying that it is a matter for a House ethics committee investigation. "The Standards Committee has asked that no one discuss this matter because of its ongoing investigation," Bonjean said.

The emergence of a second congressional staffer describing such a meeting came on a day that Hastert (R-Ill.) was working to solidify his hold on the speakership. Prominent Republicans, including President Bush, have defended Hastert, saying he should not step down, but the criticism continues to flow.

Hastert maintains that he knew nothing of Foley's actions until last week, when the story first broke and Foley resigned. His stance contradicts that of House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), both of whom said they had informed Hastert this spring.

…
Now, a second House aide familiar with Foley and his actions told The Washington Post yesterday that "Scott Palmer had spoken to Foley prior to November 2005." The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter is now the subject of a criminal investigation and the House ethics committee inquiry.

…

Palmer, who shares a townhouse with Hastert when they are in town, is more powerful than all but a few House members. Members know that he speaks for Hastert.…

Since everyone on the Right of the crazy-line from Bill Kristol to David Brooks to Tom Friedman constantly doles out free "advice" to Democrats which the Muppet Media actually takes seriously, please let me toss a coupla cents of free wisdom to my Conservative friends.

Please keep defending Foley.

Please keep trying to blame the pages.

Please keep bringing Clinton into this.

Please keep saying you were just trying to avoid bruising the feelings of gay Americans in one breath...and then continue to conflate "gay" with "child molester" in your next breath. Because we all know how careful the GOP is when it comes to avoiding gay-bashing



for partisan gain.

Please continue to let James Dobson, Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge and Hate Radio carry your "Pro Child Sex Predator" banner in this battle.

Please keep spinning ever-more lurid and ludicrous theories out of the pall of Cheetoh dust that hangs in the air in your basement. I'm sure eventually one of them will cause Reality to run away and hide. And don't listen to anyone who says that it makes you look at once insane and wildly hypocritical.

Please continue backing Denny Hastert to the fucking hilt. Do not cut and run from your Leader and let this National Treasure resign in disgrace!

And above all, please, for the love of all that is Good and Holy, continue to do all of this while standing on a mountain of Bibles a 100 miles high, and in the shadow of the seven years and tens of millions of dollars you spent hunting a President like Ahab over trivia, and impeaching him for a consensual sexual relationship.

Because that just makes it all extra sweet.