The Washington Post had a change of heart and cleaned up one of their stories to give Boehner some room to maneuver.
The resignation rocked the Capitol, and especially Foley's GOP colleagues, as lawmakers were rushing to adjourn for at least six weeks. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert.
At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.
The reporters who wrote the story stand by their original reporting.
Dennis Hastert has a long history of covering up GOP ethics scandals. After all he was the one who put the boot to Republican Joel Hefley as Chairman of the House Ethics Committee when he refused to give Tom DeLay a pass on his cornucopia of violations, and also helpfully stacked the committee with those indebted to DeLay's PAC for their re-election funds.
