Kolbe: My Spokeswoman Is A Liar (Or I Am)

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) released a statement giving his “best recollection” of the Foley incident back in 2000, that’s at odds with key details of an earlier statement given by his own press secretary.

For starters, Kolbe spokeswoman Korenna Kline told The Washington Post that the congressman had personally confronted Foley about his inappropriate exchanges. Kolbe now says he merely “recommended” that the page’s complaint “be passed along to Rep. Foley’s office and the Clerk who supervised the Page program.” (Kolbe’s full statement is after the jump.)

Kline also told the WaPo that the page had showed the offending messages to Kolbe. In his statement, Kolbe denies ever seeing the messages. (A source told the WaPo that the messages, which have not been released, were “sexually explicit.”)

The congressman gave no explanation for why his version of events contradicts that of his spokeswoman. Kolbe also implies now that this really wasn’t his problem, since “the young man was no longer a Page and not subject to the jurisdiction of the program.”

Kolbe’s full statement:

“I have been contacted by news organizations about former Rep. Foley’s e-mail contacts with former pages. This is my best recollection of the single incident I was made aware of.”

“Some time after leaving the Page program, an individual I had appointed as a Page contacted my office to say he had received e-mails from Rep. Foley that made him uncomfortable. I was not shown the content of the messages and was not told they were sexually explicit. It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley’s office and the Clerk who supervised the Page program. This was done promptly. I did not have a personal conversation with Mr. Foley about the matter. I assume e-mail contact ceased since the former Page never raised the issue again with my office. I believed then, and believe now, that this was the appropriate way to handle this incident given the information I had and the fact that the young man was no longer a Page and not subject to the jurisdiction of the program.”

“I began my own political career as a Page for Sen. Barry Goldwater in 1958. As a result, I have a special empathy for the program and have always sought to make the experience a meaningful one for them. I visit with the Pages at the back of the chamber to explain politics and parliamentary procedures on the House Floor. I have written college and graduate school recommendations for scores of the young men and women, and I have always participated in various official page activities when asked to do so by the program, such as speaking at their graduation.