Republican Majority leader, Speaker of the house knew of sexual predator, did nothing

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.

It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged online exchanges between Foley and the boy.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took the House floor last night to demand an investigation into the Foley matter. But Boehner headed her off, calling on the House to refer the matter to the ethics committee, which the House promptly voted unanimously to do.

So I guess they did take action. They quickly booted this to the utterly useless republican controlled ethics committee which has refused to take any action against anyone for years.

Story here.

**UPDATE** The coverup continues...From RollCall:

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) issued a statement Saturday in which he said that he had informed Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) of allegations of improper contacts between then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and at least one former male page, contradicting earlier statements from Hastert.

GOP sources said Reynolds told Hastert earlier in 2006, shortly after the February GOP leadership elections. Hastert's response to Reynolds' warning remains unclear.

Hastert's staff insisted Friday night that he was not told of the Foley allegations and are scrambling to respond to Reynolds' statement.

**ADDENDUM** Ever wonder if ultra-moralist Republicans seem more likely to be pedophiles and sexual predators? I'm convinced just by what I've seen. But here's a list.
Could exhibiting hard right social positions regarding gays and other sexual matters be simply overcompensation for their own repressed sexual hang-ups?

You be the judge.

44 CONVICTED Republican pedophiles


* Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a
convicted child rapist in Florida.

* Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to
molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in
prison.

* Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a
10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

* Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty
to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to
anybody who murders an abortion doctor.

* Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10
years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

* Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in
federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

* Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to
three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

* Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom
Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

* Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended
during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after
admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

* Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having
an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

* Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of
having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

* Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of
child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

* Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of
sex crimes involving children.

* Republican activist Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to
attempted sexual assault on a child.

* Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor
working as a congressional page.

* Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly
Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter.

* Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger allegedly had sex with
a 16 year old girl when he was 28.

* Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was
charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

* Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for
distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

* Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican Marty"),
was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful
sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the
drug LSD.

* Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with
molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

* Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having
sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after
the allegations were reported in the media.

* Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to
traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a
14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.

* Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing
his genitals to an 11 year old girl.

* Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was
sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after
he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

* Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts
of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

* Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to
two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year
old girl.

* Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of
first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.

* Republican politician Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven
felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age
of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).

* Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was charged
with sexual misconduct involving a 15-year old girl.

* Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to
molesting a male child.

* Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual
assault on a teenage girl.

* Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his
two daughters.

* Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was
convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.

* Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded
guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.

* Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no
contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.

* Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession
of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months
in federal prison and fined $18,000.

* Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state
representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography
was found in his possession.

* Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin
Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex
from boys and girls over the internet.

* Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a
"good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly
having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

* Republican businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy for
Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in
the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.

* Republican director of the "Young Republican Federation" Nicholas
Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years
in prison.

* Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups, Richard
A. Dasen Sr., was charged with rape for allegedly paying a 15-year old
girl for sex. Dasen, 62, who is married with grown children and several
grandchildren, has allegedly told police that over the past decade he
paid more than $1 million to have sex with a large number of young women

Bear in mind that this list omits all those who have been revealed to be gay, including the head of the legal organization who pursued an effort to have Clinton disbarred who was twice caught trying to fondle undercover officers in Georgia parks.

It should also be noted that the Beverly Russell named in the list above is the stepfather of Susan Smith, the woman who murdered her two small children by locking them in a car and rolling it into a lake.

As the entry on Smith in Wikipedia notes, "She was spared the death penalty in a decision by her South Carolina jury, after her stepfather, Beverly Russell, a prominent Union County citizen, Republican Party and Christian Coalition leader, testified that he had sexually molested her when she was a teenager (until the intervention of the local Department of Social Services), and again in the months before the drowning of the two boys. Russell was never charged with a crime, despite the fact that he was accused in court of, and did not deny, the molestation and incestous sexual abuse of his teenaged stepdaughter."

Then there's Roger Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trick master who started his career as a member of CREEP during Watergate, was responsible for organizing the "bourgeois riot" of republican staffers who staged phony "spontaneous" demonstrations and invaded the Dade County clerk's office pounding on doors and yelling eventually forcing them to stop counting votes, and who's had a hand in many scummy tricks up to and including the Swift Boat liars.

Seems he and his wife are confirmed swingers and even placed ads featureing their pictures in swingers magazines. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it's the HYPOCRISY, stupid.

And of course, there's "Jeff Gannon", the gay prostitute who was a "reporter" (no training or experience whatsoever) from the sham right wing Talon news agency and who was allowed to bypass the usual vetting process and given press passes to the White House dozens of times. He'd sit in the front row and was invariably called on by Scott McClellan due to his pro administration anti-Dem softball questions. It was later revealed that he was advertising his services as a gay escort on internet sites he'd registered in his name, including "hotmilitarystuds.com", complete with fully nude gay poses. Amazingly, Gannon/Guckert had gotten the White House press passes while using a phony name.