What’s he smokin’? House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) sent a letter to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. Foley resigned after apologizing for the pain he caused to House pages from across the country.
See if you can follow Hastert’s reasoning on why this is a Florida matter:
As Speaker of the House, I hereby request that you direct the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct an investigation of Mr. Foley’s conduct with current and former House pages to determine to what extent any of his actions violated Florida law.
These communications, of which no one in the House Leadership was aware to my knowledge, reportedly were sent sometime in 2003. In one of these messages, Mr. Foley stated that he was in Pensacola.
“These communications, of which no one in the House Leadership was aware to my knowledge…” As far as I’m aware, I wasn’t aware.
K. Anyway:
These sexually explicit communications warrant a criminal referral. In so doing, it is important to know who may have had the communications and why they were not given to prosecutors before now.
Therefore, I also request that the Department undertake an investigation into who had specific knowledge of the content of any sexually explicit communications between Mr. Foley and any former or current House pages and what actions such individuals took, if any, to provide them to law enforcement. I request that the scope of your investigation include any and all individuals who may have been aware of this matter-be they Members of Congress, employees of the House of Representatives, or anyone outside the Congress.
Your attention to this serious matter is appreciated. I am also sending to the U.S. Department of Justice a request to investigate whether or not any federal laws were violated by Mr. Foley or anyone else with respect to this matter.
So is Denny trying to say that he isn’t responsible because he doesn’t know Florida law? News flash for you, Hastert: what Foley apologized for is illegal everywhere, not just in Florida. Try another dodge — this one isn’t working.
No word yet on Jeb’s response.
