GOP Rep Kept out of Loop on Foley Emails

Uh-oh. A second member of the panel which oversees the House page program says she was never told of Foley’s emails, despite claims that her board had investigated the matter.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) says she was “astounded” to learn of the emails on Thursday. And she says that had she known, she would have done more than Shimkus or other House leaders. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) said on Saturday that he was never informed of the matter.

Now, there are only three lawmakers on the panel. So it appears that Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), the chair of the board, was not only one of the first in Congress to learn of “over-friendly” emails from Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) to a page, but the only member of the page board to know. He went to the House leadership with the problem, but apparently kept his fellow page board members in the dark.

Capito’s comments were reported in The Charleston Gazette:

“There’s only three of us on the page board. I feel that we should have been informed,” Capito said. “I’m absolutely disgusted by what I’m hearing. I was caught totally unaware.”…

Capito said she would have been very concerned if she had read those e-mails.

“I don’t think it would pass the sniff test,” she said. “Even asking those questions — that is not normal between a 52-year-old adult and a 16-year-old. It’s not like they’re family friends or anything. I think it would raise some serious questions. But I wasn’t given that opportunity.”