Former Chief Of Staff Says He Reported Foley 3 Years Ago

Josephine Roque

Former Rep. Mark Foley’s ex chief of staff said that he informed House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s aides more than three years ago regarding Foley’s behavior.

Kirk Fordham was Foley’s top aide till January 2004. He told the AP, he had, “more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene.”

Fordham had recently resigned as staff chief for lawmaker, New York Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who is also involved in the scandal. He had informed Hastert about Foley last spring.

“What Kirk Fordham said did not happen,” Scott Palmer, Hastert’s chief of staff told a spokesman.

“I think I could have given some good advice here, which is, You have to be curious, you have to ask all the questions you can think of,” said Rep. Roy Blunt, a member of the leadership. “You absolutely can’t decide not to look into activities because one individual’s parents don’t want you to.”

Republican Rep. Ron Lewis canceled the invitation for Hastert to join him at a fundraiser next week.

“I’m taking the speaker’s words at face value,” Lewis told the AP. “I have no reason to doubt him. But until this is cleared up, I want to know the facts. If anyone in our leadership has done anything wrong, then I will be the first in line to condemn it.”

Florida Republican, Foley, 52, had abruptly resigned after the issue of the sexually explicit electronic messages sent to teenage male pages had surfaced.

He is now in an alcohol rehabilitation facility.