The Tom Reynolds, Dennis Hastert & Mark Foley Connection

Tom Reynolds was involved in covering up the Foley emails. Reynolds was even forced to admit he knew of emails existed.

WASHINGTON — Congressman Tom Reynolds (NY-26) today issued the following statement:

“Rodney Alexander brought to my attention the existence of e-mails between Mark Foley and a former page of Mr. Alexander’s. Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didn’t want the matter pursued, I told the Speaker of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me.

“Mr. Alexander has also said he took the matter to the Clerk of the House. An investigation was then conducted by the Clerk and John Shimkus on behalf of the House Page Board.

“Mark Foley betrayed the integrity of this institution as well as the trust of his colleagues and constituents. There is no excuse, and he needs to be held accountable.”

Hastert's aids were saying that the Speaker did not know about the emails. Hastert was then forced to issue this press release stating that his office knew about the problem since last year.

In the fall of 2005 Tim Kennedy, a staff assistant in the Speaker's Office, received a telephone call from Congressman Rodney Alexander's Chief of Staff who indicated that he had an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House page. He did not reveal the specific text of the email but expressed that he and Congressman Alexander were concerned about it.


Tim Kennedy immediately discussed the matter with his supervisor, Mike Stokke, Speaker Hastert's Deputy Chief of Staff. Stokke directed Kennedy to ask Ted Van Der Meid, the Speaker's in house Counsel, who the proper person was for Congressman Alexander to report a problem related to a former page. Ted Van Der Meid told Kennedy it was the Clerk of the House who should be notified as the responsible House Officer for the page program. Later that day Stokke met with Congressman Alexander's Chief of Staff. Once again the specific content of the email was not discussed. Stokke called the Clerk and asked him to come to the Speaker's Office so that he could put him together with Congressman Alexander's Chief of Staff. The Clerk and Congressman Alexander's Chief of Staff then went to the Clerk's Office to discuss the matter.

And they ended up doing nothing about it. John Shimkus knew about the emails since last year.

Shimkus, who chairs the page board, and Trandahl, who administered the program, met with Foley in 2005 after learning of Foley’s e-mail exchange with the former page by Alexander. Shimkus released a detailed statement Friday night.

House sources said that Foley denied any improper sexual activity when confronted by Shimkus and Trandahl. Their information only included some August 2005 e-mails that contained no references to sex or other improper behavior, and not the other messages that have been reported by ABC News.

Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) is the only Democrat on the page board. Shimkus never told Kildee about the Foley emails. Foley told Shimkus he did nothing wrong. (What a surprise.) That was good enough for Shirkus.

What is interesting is that Alexander chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee. On July 27, 2006, it received a $100,000 donation from Foley.

It's amazing how Hastert and Alexander couldn't remember anything about the Foley emails. When they realized this was going to become a criminal investigation, they had total recall. Hastert is using the Ronald Reagan defense. Meaning, that Hastert is the Republican leader of the House, but has no idea what is going on. Pathetic.