Monday, October 9th, 2006...11:47 am
Kolbe Knew?
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Reports have surfaced, unconfirmed by his office, that Jim Kolbe was informed by a page five years ago about Mark Foley’s behavior.
I’m willing to cut Kolbe a break here. Reports have varied, but they seem to agree that Kolbe went to someone (leadership? page board? Foley?) to discuss the matter. Given that others have been reported to have gone to leadership and been answered with “It’s being taken care of,” it is possible that Kolbe felt that the matter was being dealt with.
3 Comments
October 9th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Really? Kolbe served on the U.S. House Page Board from 1995-2001. The chair of the Board was Rep. Sue Kelly, R-NY, who was the person he should have gone to. The Washington Post story says Kolbe went to the House Clerk instead of the Page Board Chair, House Majority Leader or the Speaker? No breaks should be given yet until Kolbe testifies before the House Ethics Committee. (Yes, I think he’s one of the four dozen subpoenaed.)
October 9th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
The Post story says he told the page to go to the clerk’s office this week, not in 2000. It is silent on what he did or did not do six years ago.
Nevertheless, I find it interesting that the GOP now conveniently has the only openly gay member of its caucus to divert attention to on this issue.
It now appears that leadership can pass most of the outrage off on a guy who the religious wingers never liked anyhow, who isn’t running for re-election and who refuses to have anything to do with his party’s nominee to replace him.
October 9th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
If there was reasonable basis to believe that something was amiss, the correct course of action is to report to law enforcement or the local child protection agency. If for no other reason than to cover your own ass, it’s always best to inform an outside body with investigative responsibilities. A report is not an accusation, just a request for further investigation.
It’s no different than a teacher sending suggestive e-mails to a student and the student complaining to another teacher. The teacher to whom the complaint was made has a duty and authorization to report to law enforcement or CPS a reasonable belief that abuse or neglect has occured or may occur. Reporting to the school principal or guidance counselor is not good enough. Every law has different reporting requirements, but there is a requirement in every state AND the District of Columbia.
I agree with boredinaz…it certainly is curious that the only out Republican in Congress is now becoming the face of this issue, at least for today.
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