I mentioned this earlier. And I think it deserves 
more attention. We continue to hear that the initial conversations about Rep. Foley’s (R-FL) emails occurred in ‘late 2005’. The House Clerk, who played a key role in what happened and interviewed Foley along with Rep. Shimkus (R-IL), was then Jeff Trandahl.
Trandahl resigned from his position as Clerk around the time this was all happening. He left the position on November 18th, 2005. And the first public mention I can find of his departure was in statement released by Speaker Hastert on September 30th, 2005. The suspect emails reportedly were sent in August 2005. And copies of those emails later forwarded to a staffer in Rep. Rodney Alexander’s (R-LA) office suggest the page first contacted Alexander’s office on August 31st.
Trandahl became Executive Director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
More clarity on just when these events occurred could quickly rule out his departure being tied in some way to the Foley imbroglio. But it seems quite probable the events in question took place early in September 2005.
Regardless of the reasons behind his leaving the Clerkship, Trandahl is probably in a better position to shed more light on this matter than almost anyone. I believe the Clerk is given a large degree of responsibility for the pages under House Rules. And of all the players in the drama he’s the only one who is at least notionally independent. That is, not a member of the House nor a staffer working for a particular member.
To the best of my knowledge no one has yet gotten Trandahl on the record. We haven’t heard his story.
